Open-door office, CCTV to stream governor's work as Park vows transparent administration
South Chungcheong Province Gov. Park Soo-hyun signed his first official order Tuesday, choosing to anchor his "people-centered South Chungcheong" vision in a plan to revive traditional Chungcheong civic values and open his office to the public.
Park signed the "Chungcheong Spirit Practice and Open Governor's Office Promotion Plan" at his office, marking the formal start of the ninth term of civilian-elected provincial government.
The plan sets three goals: leading the future through an AI-driven transformation, completing a warm and dignified people-centered province through a movement to restore the traditional values of loyalty, filial piety and propriety, and realizing open and communicative governance by keeping the governor's office permanently accessible and installing CCTV cameras inside.
To put the Chungcheong spirit into practice, the province will carry out three initiatives: a national flag-flying campaign representing loyalty, a protocol of the highest honors for senior citizens and veterans representing filial piety, and a diary-writing movement for youth representing propriety.
The flag-flying campaign aims to make South Chungcheong the province that flies the Taegukgi most prominently, with a goal of having every household in the province display the national flag.
To that end, the province will run a flag distribution campaign, hold a flag design contest, conduct public outreach and student education, and inspect flag-flying compliance at apartments, senior centers, community halls and public institutions. The campaign will be carried out in partnership with senior citizens' associations, veterans' groups, neighborhood leaders and three national civic movement organizations.
For the highest-honors protocol, the heads of senior citizens' associations and veterans' groups will be the first to enter at governor-hosted events and will be seated in the place of honor beside the governor.
The province will revise its official protocol manual accordingly and distribute it to all provincial departments, cities, counties and affiliated agencies, with periodic job training to follow.
Dedicated staff will accompany senior attendees and veterans' group leaders from arrival to departure at events, and reserved parking spaces and priority drop-off and pick-up areas will be provided for their safety.
Alongside this, the first day of each month will be designated as a day of filial piety, anchored by a "call your parents" campaign.
The youth diary-writing movement is grounded in the view that keeping a diary is a process through which young people learn to reflect on themselves, communicate with their parents and cultivate care for their neighbors.
The primary participants will be elementary, middle and high school students across the province. The province plans to collaborate with the provincial office of education and private organizations to promote diary writing, and is also reviewing the possibility of enacting a related ordinance.
Specific initiatives under consideration include producing and distributing diary notebooks, operating diary-writing themed corners at public libraries, providing incentives to outstanding students and schools, and holding a contest.
The open governor's office initiative reflects Park's commitment to transparent governance through full disclosure of his official activities.
The governor's office door will be kept open so that any resident — individuals or groups — can visit and communicate freely. CCTV cameras will also be installed inside the office to record footage around the clock and stream it on the provincial government's website.
The province is also considering replacing the office walls with transparent glass, pending a structural review of the building.
A dedicated staff member will be present during all of the governor's official activities to document and organize his schedule, approved documents, speeches, remarks, photographs, video footage and notes for public release. The province said it will draw up and implement detailed follow-up plans as soon as possible in line with the first official order.
"I have called myself an AI governor first, second and third — but AI is the most fundamental of fundamentals," Park said. "For our society to develop sustainably over the long term, we must show filial piety to our elders and parents, cherish our neighbors, be loyal to the nation, honor those who served it, and instill in our children a spirit of patriotism and filial devotion," he added, underscoring his commitment to the Chungcheong spirit movement.
kwonhl@heraldcorp.com
