Goheung-gun names father in his 40s top 'proactive civil servant' of first half

Grade-7 official Kim Ji-hoon selected; 15 cases reviewed in total

Goheung-gun announced Tuesday it had named six civil servants who drove administrative innovation through proactive work as its "First-Half 2026 Proactive Civil Servants of Excellence."

The selections followed a review of 15 outstanding cases submitted by departments. One civil servant received the top honor, two received excellence awards and three received encouragement awards.

Kim Ji-hoon (40), a civil engineering official in the construction division, took the top honor for his contribution to improving a key gateway road in Goheung-gun six years ahead of schedule by leveraging a change in national planning.

Kim was recognized for redesigning a confusing stretch of road near the "Meeting Square" in Donggang-myeon — a route that had disoriented both drivers and navigation systems — converting it from a one-way to a two-way road and securing the necessary budget funding.

The excellence awards went to Choe Gyu-man, Chu Hyeon and Lee Tae-yeong of the finance division for identifying new tax revenue sources by attracting a rental car depot and introducing an online vehicle mortgage registration system, and to Jeong Gyeong-won of the disaster safety division for securing a record 72.8 billion won ($50.9 million) in disaster prevention funding for 2026 to strengthen public safety.

The three encouragement awards went to Jang Jin-u of the finance division for preventing budget waste by arranging a conditional negotiated contract for patented construction materials after a Public Procurement Service contract was rejected; to Lee Geon-ho of the tourism policy office for successfully staging a Goheung Space and Aerospace Festival pop-up show at Hyundai Seoul; and to Kim Dong-myeong of the general civil affairs office for resolving long-neglected building safety blind spots using county funds.

The honorees resolved difficult on-site challenges stalled by complex regulations, doing so proactively through multi-angle legal interpretation and collaboration with related agencies. Their cases will be shared across all county departments via card-news posts and the Goheung-gun official website.

Goheung-gun chief Gong Yeong-min said the county would provide exceptional rewards to civil servants who pursue their work proactively and establish a public service culture that encourages taking on challenges for the benefit of residents.