Greetings, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV.
I’m Don Valiant and this is the news from Gyeonggi Province this week.

Article 1. First 100 Days in Office of Gyeonggi Vice Governor in Coalition (0317-2)

[Anchor’s Headline]
One hundred days have passed since Lee Gi-woo (이기우) took office as the Social Integration Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province. Our reporter investigated what Lee has achieved so far and what his future plans are.

[Report]
The appointment of Lee from an opposition party to the new position of social integration vice governor marked the beginning of a political coalition in Gyeonggi Province, a keynote of the administrative policy adopted by Governor Nam Kyung-pil (남경필). Since this was the first regional-level coalition attempted in Korean history, Vice Governor Lee spent his first one hundred days in office primarily on constructing the framework for administrative coalition.

Gyeonggi Province Social Integration Vice Governor Lee Gi-woo
“It was time during which the provincial administration and assembly as well as political parties worked together to formulate the institutional foundation for coalition so as to realize a cooperation-based administration tem.”

‘Gyeonggi Coalition Executive Committee’ Established as Coalition Headquarters
‘Financial Strategy Committee’ Established for Strategic Financial Operations Review
The Gyeonggi Coalition Executive Committee was established to oversee the realization of coalition. The Financial Strategy Committee was also established for strategic financial operations review.

Coalition with Provincial Assembly in Budget Planning
Budget planning procedures were modified to include an additional period for preliminary discussions with the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly and residents for the creation of more effective annual provincial budgets.

Local Administrations to Be Involved for Effective Local Budget Planning
The thirty-one local governments of Gyeonggi Province will also be involved in the budget planning coalition for more effective distribution of financial resources.

Gyeonggi Province Social Integration Vice Governor Lee Gi-woo
“As Vice Governor for Social Integration, I will play the role of a communication bridge between conflicting interests to find sensible resolutions.”

Regular Social Policy Meetings with Private Sector
Another new feature of provincial coalition policies will be regular meetings with provincial and private organizations and specialists for social policy review and discussion without administrative barriers.

Article 2. Gyeonggi Supports SME for Product Design (0316-2)

[Anchor’s Headline]

Last year, Gyeonggi Province launched the G-Design Development Support Project for small and medium-sized enterprises. The provincial government will expand the range of support this year and will receive applications for support up until April 3.

[Report]

Mobile X-ray Camera Manufacturer, Goyang
This mobile X-ray camera manufacturer was not as successful as it deserved to be in overseas markets due to the plain appearance of its products until the products were redesigned with the help of Gyeonggi Province.

Product Design Improved through Provincial Support
Its elegant cameras now receive favorable responses from overseas buyers.

Products with New Designs Exported to 60+ Countries
This company now exports its products to more than sixty countries.

Kim Yeong-gu / CEO of Dongmun Co.
“We receive a lot of positive feedback from overseas buyers regarding the visual quality of our products. Provincial support is very helpful to us in marketing our products.”

G-Design Development Project Supported 80 SMEs Last Year
More than eighty small and medium enterprises received provincial support through the G-Design Development Support Project. Gyeonggi Province recognizes the importance of product design for the growth of enterprises, and plans to expand design support this year.

Baek In-ho / GSBC Growth Support Team
“Small and medium enterprises are often unable to afford their own design personnel. Our support project works by utilizing specialists in user requirement investigations and actual design.”

Gyeonggi Province Website egbiz (www.egbiz.or.kr)
Applications for Design Development Support (until April 3)
Applications for design development support are being received via the Gyeonggi Province business support website until April 3. Gyeonggi Province expects to receive more applications this year since the range of design support will be expanded to include the commercialization stage of designed products.

Article 3. Gyeonggi Steps Up Its Industrial Deregulation Efforts (0317-1)

[Anchor’s Headline]
Recently, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government helped the realization of a private fuel cell power plant mega-project in the province by persuading the central government to lift development restrictions on the project site.

[Report]

CJ CheilJedang Ansan Plant
CJ CheilJedang (제일제당), a large food and healthcare enterprise in Korea, has a large vacant area next to its food pla
nt in Ansan (안산) City.

Fuel Cell Power Plant Project Postponed Due to Development Restrictions
This land lot was acquired by the company decades ago for the construction of an environment-friendly fuel cell power plant. However, the company’s application has been rejected repeatedly by central government authorities since the lot is within a development restriction zone.

[CG] However, Gyeonggi Province persuaded the related ministry to revise regulations to include fuel cell facilities in an exception clause.

Gyeonggi Province Signs MOU with CJ for Fuel Cell Project Support
Gyeonggi Province signed an agreement with CJ to provide administrative support for this KRW 300 billion project.

Kang Hui-jin / Chief Official, Gyeonggi Province Regulatory Reformation Promotion Team
“We will continue to help realize industrial projects which are being delayed due to misinterpretations of regulations and rights.”
Last April, Gyeonggi Province established a special team to oversee regulatory reformation.

Gyeonggi Province Regulatory Reformation Team
100 Regulatory Reformation Projects Selected for Intensive Provincial Intervention
This team will provide intensive provincial intervention in 100 projects selected for regulatory reformation this year. Projects have been selected based on the anticipated benefits of deregulation. Monthly industrial site visits by Gyeonggi provincial officials led by the Governor of Gyeonggi Province are also playing an import role in identifying the necessity for and potential benefits of deregulation.

Article 4. Unified Disciplinary Actions and Benefits Applied to Gyeonggi Organizations (0318-1)

[Anchor`s Headline]
From this year, unified rules for disciplinary actions and employee benefits will be applied to all twenty-six affiliated organizations of Gyeonggi Province. Our reporter examined the details.

[Report]
Gyeonggi Province has the largest number of affiliated organizations among second-tier governments in Korea. Each organization has its own rules which sometimes cause equality issues.

Rule Difference Raises Equality Issues among Gyeonggi provincial Organizations
The rules for disciplinary actions such as salary reductions as well as the rules for employee benefits have differed from organization to organization, often becoming the causes of complaints about unfair treatment.

[CG] Overtime payments will be calculated based on basic salaries for up to 52 hours. Use of alternative holidays will be allowed at the discretion of management at each organization.
The rules for disciplinary punishments were strengthened to limit the arbitrary power of management.

[CG] Stricter resignation rules will be introduced to prevent punishable employees from misusing the rules to receive retirement benefits by resigning. The proion period for embezzlement was extended from three years to five years.

Compliance with Unified Rules to Be Evaluated in Organizational Performance Assessments
To promote these new rules, compliance will be evaluated in organizational performance assessments.

Kim Yang-ho / Director, Gyeonggi Province Inspection and Evaluation Division
“Application of different rules in different organizations has been recognized as inefficient. Management and analysis of disciplinary actions and employee benefits can now be improved through the application of unified rules.”

GTV Reporter Lee Tae-hui
“Gyeonggi Province will also introduce unified calculations of retirement payments and holiday benefits and continue to develop unified rules in phases so as to ensure equality in the treatment of employees.”

Article 5. Gyeonggi Finalizes Financing Plan for New Government Complex (0319-1)

[Anchor’s Headline]
Gyeonggi Province has finalized its financing plan for the new provincial government complex. The ultimate source of funds will be proceeds from the sale of publicly owned real estate.

[Report]

New Provincial Government Complex Site, Gwanggyo New Town
The construction of the new 25-story government complex, which will be completed in 2018 on a 590,000 square-meter site in Gwanggyo (광교), will cost KRW 420 billion.

Gyeonggi Province Finalizes Financing Plan for New Government Complex
Gyeonggi Province announced the financing plan so as to relieve concerns regarding possible extra burdens on residents.

65% to Be Initially Covered by Local Government Bond Issues
Sixty-five percent of the costs will be initially paid with the proceeds from the issuance of local government bonds; the rest will be paid annually through the profits of the Gyeonggi Urban Innovation Corporation.

Public Real Estate to Be Sold for Repayment for Bonds
The local government bonds will then be repaid by 2027 with proceeds from the sale of real estate owned by the provincial government. Twenty-one properties have been selected for sale, of which six are readily disposable for an estimate KRW 160 billion. Of the remaining fifteen lots, 60% will suffice to finance the balance of the 65 percent of total costs.

Lee Jae-bong / Chief Official, New Government Complex Establishment Task Force
“Financing the project requires the enactment of a new ordinance; this cannot be done on our own. We will communicate with provincial assembly members to secure their cooperation.”
Gyeonggi Province will request that the provincial assembly review the Special Account Ordinance for this purpose again this year. The review was postponed last year.

Article 6. Gyeonggi Adopts International Position Reference System (0318-2)

[Anchor’s Headline]
Since last year, the Korean government has been promoting the conversion of the reference coordinate tem for land positioning from the Tokyo-based reference tem to the World Geodetic System, or WGS.

[Report]
WGS, which is also used by modern GPS tems, is a widely-used international standard for positioning and navigation; it is based on the actual shape of the Earth.

Tokyo Geodetic System Used in Korea since 1910
The Tokyo Geodetic System has been used in Korea from 1910 since the Japanese occupation of the nation. Since this tem is based on Japanese topography, it is not suitable for use in Korea and creates significant measurement errors.

Gyeonggi Province Plans WGS Conversion for 15% of Land Information This Year
In Gyeonggi Province, conversion work began last year and has already been completed for 7 percent of the province. This year’s target is for up to 15 percent of the land. With WGS, GPS data can be used directly without errors and without the need to compensate coordinates for use in the Tokyo tem. In order to facilitate conversion to WGS, Gyeonggi Province will provide related officials with necessary education.

Task Force Organized for Conversion in Phases for 5 Provincial Regions
For the more efficient, phased conversion of the vast amount of provincial land information stored in its databases, Gyeonggi Province has divided the province into five regions and organized a special task force to oversee the conversion.

Kim Yong-jae / Chief Official, Gyeonggi Province Land Registration Reinvestigation Team
“We first set this year’s target at 10 percent, but later increased it to 15 percent so as to speed up the process of removing the old Japanese tem, to protect ownership rights, and to address the requirements of other positioning information uses.”

Gyeonggi Province plans to complete the conversion of land information by 2020. Although it is late, conversion to WGS
will have a number of beneficial effects such as more accurate land information, safer land transactions, and more efficient positioning for various services.

Article 7. Gyeonggi Winter Support Task Force (0316-3)

[Anchor’s Headline]
During this past winter, Gyeonggi Province operated a task force to work with Muhandolbomi (무한돌보미), volunteer social workers, and identified 88,000 households in welfare blind spots. Our reporter examined the details.

[Report]

Home of Kim Chun-geun’s Family, Suwon
At Kim’s house, a Muhandolbomi (무한돌보미) helps the family with housekeeping by inspecting and going through a checklist with Kim’s wife.

Housing Environment Improvement Support Project of Gyeonggi Province
This is the day of the monthly inspection that is provided to recipients of Gyeonggi Province’s Housing Environment Improvement Support. Kim, a lung cancer patient living with his wife, was suffering from depression; with a 7-year-old child, there was no one in the family to care for their home properly. The Muhandolbom service transformed Kim’s home, and last winter was warmer for Kim’s family.

Kim Chun-geun / Muhandolbom Service Recipient
“I had bad lungs. There were spiders and cockroaches everywhere. After they renovated our home, even my health improved.”
It was the Muhandolbomi (무한돌보미) who reported Kim family’s predicament to the welfare authorities of Gyeonggi Province. Kim’s home was then completely refurbished by the Housing Environment Improvement Project free of charge with support from a private enterprise.

Park Seung-jae / Director, Gyeonggi Province Social Welfare Division
“We provide continuous support after housing improvement through case managers who can arrange education support and help with hygienic housekeeping.”
The task force helped 20,000 households in Gyeonggi Province this last winter.

Comprehensive Winter Support Task Force
This task force for comprehensive winter support was operated from December last year until February this year.

Gyeonggi Province Social Integration Vice Governor Lee Gi-woo
“No one knows better about those who are living in difficult situations than their neighbors. We have so far secured 25,000 Muhandolbomi volunteers from among local resident leaders and even gas meter inspectors.”
In addition to the Muhandolbomi (무한돌보미) squad, Gyeonggi Province also plans to operate a comprehensive welfare network so as to eliminate welfare blind spots.

Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV.
We look forward to seeing you again next week.