North Gyeongsang Province Shows Best Performance in Overall Administration

North Gyeongsang Province topped the evaluation of 16 local governments of metropolitan cities and provinces carried out by the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) in 2003. Incheon was ranked in 16th and Seoul was 12th.

The Bureau of Local Autonomy at the HOGAHA submitted the evaluation report to Rep. Yoo Ihn-tae of the ruling Uri Party on October 10. Yoo is a member of the Government Administration and Home Affairs Committee of the National Assembly. The MOGAHA has done an evaluation every year since 2001, but this is the first time that the results have been opened to the public.

The MOGAHA carried out an evaluation of six categories: general administration, welfare, women’s issues, local economy, local development, and environmental protection. Out of 100 possible points, North Gyeongsang Province received 87.92 points. North Gyeongsang Province was ranked first in the categories of local economy and women’s issues. With the exception of environmental protection, it placed within the top three in all areas.

Following North Gyeongsang Province were North Chungcheong Province and South Jeolla Province with 87.24 and 86.59 points, respectively. North Chungcheong Province took first place in the fields of general administration and environmental protection. South Jeolla Province received high points in local economy (second), general administration (third), and women’s issues (third).

Incheon, which received the lowest number of points with 83.01, was ranked last, 16th, in environmental protection. Incheon got low marks in all areas.

In the evaluation, provincial governments in general scored higher than metropolitan city governments. The provincial governments swept the top three, whereas the metropolitan cities struggled in lower ranks. Seoul was ranked 12th and Busan was ranked sixth. Daegu, Gwangju, and Daejeon each placed 14th, eighth, and 10th.

According to a survey conducted on 8,000 people who have experience petitioning to the civil affairs administration, the average satisfaction rate was 77.1 percent. Metropolitan governments received 75.8 points out of 100 points, whereas provincial local governments scored an average of 79.4 points.

Min-Hyuk Park mhpark@donga.com