Gangnam-gu District Mayor Kim Hyun-gi is drawing attention for a hands-on approach to tax administration that goes beyond collecting overdue payments to examining the living conditions of small-amount delinquents.
Kim has launched a dedicated outreach unit tasked with directly assessing the payment capacity and daily circumstances of residents with minor tax arrears.
The district held a launch ceremony for the unit in the district office lobby on Monday, presenting appointment letters and investigator credentials to 31 newly selected members.
The unit departs from the conventional practice of issuing blanket payment demands, instead seeking tailored solutions based on each individual's situation.
Residents who are able to pay are guided toward voluntary settlement, while those facing temporary financial hardship are offered installment plans. When investigators identify a subsistence crisis during their visits, they refer the resident to relevant departments for welfare services and employment support.
By contrast, delinquents who have the means to pay but deliberately avoid doing so will face strict measures, including tax seizure proceedings.
Gangnam-gu has roughly 70,000 small-amount delinquency cases to manage this year. Local tax and non-tax arrears below 1 million won ($698) involve so many individuals that verifying each person's living situation and payment capacity one by one had been impractical.
In response, the district formed the outreach unit to combine phone consultations with field visits, enabling more systematic management of minor delinquencies.
The district drew up a local tax delinquency management plan in May and established a task force in July to prepare for the unit's launch. The unit's name is intended to convey the district's commitment to resolving tax arrears alongside residents and helping them get back on their feet.
The unit operates in five teams, each comprising a team leader, phone counselors and field investigators. Phone counselors notify residents of their arrears, explain payment options and coordinate field visit schedules. Field investigators visit delinquents' homes or workplaces to confirm the reasons for non-payment and assess living conditions.
Follow-up action based on investigation findings falls to the responsible civil servants. Subsistence-level delinquents are referred to welfare departments, while residents unable to pay in a lump sum are guided toward installment arrangements. Suspension of administrative sanctions may also be considered where warranted.
Recruitment drew strong interest: when the district accepted applications from June 22 to July 10, 120 people applied for 31 positions, a competition ratio of roughly 4 to 1.
After document screening and interviews, the district selected 31 people, including youth and career-interrupted women. Of those, 11 are women who had left the workforce and nine are in their 20s or 30s. The initiative is also expected to create public-sector jobs for employment-vulnerable groups.
Members will begin work after completing basic training and remain active through late November. The district plans to analyze this year's results to evaluate the effectiveness of delinquency collection and welfare referrals. From 2027 through 2029, it intends to select 94 members annually and expand the program's scale.
"The outreach unit is not simply about collecting overdue taxes — it is field administration that looks into why residents could not pay and examines their living circumstances to find solutions," Kim said. "We will hold accountable those who have the means to pay, and connect residents in subsistence crises to welfare and employment support, achieving both tax justice and stability in people's livelihoods."
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