Gwanak-gu District Mayor Park Jun-hee has won the top prize in the election campaign pledge category at the "2026 Manifesto (Local Elections Division) Promise Award," hosted by the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters.
The Manifesto Local Elections Division Promise Award is a recognition system that evaluates the specificity and feasibility of election campaign pledges to spread a policy-centered election culture and strengthen the foundation for fulfilling commitments made to voters.
Park was selected as the only winner among Seoul's 25 district mayors in the election campaign pledge category for the ninth round of local government elections. The result marks his third consecutive top prize, following wins in the seventh round in 2018 and the eighth round in 2022.
This year's evaluation covered campaign pledge materials published by winning candidates for metropolitan and basic local government heads and education superintendents nationwide during the ninth simultaneous local elections.
The seven evaluation categories were clarity of objectives, priority-setting, implementation procedures, implementation timeline, funding plans, philosophy and vision, and the democratic nature of the drafting process.
Park drew on 16 years of legislative experience — eight years as a Gwanak-gu council member and eight years as a Seoul Metropolitan Council member — as well as his tenure running the district in the seventh and eighth rounds, to craft pledges closely tied to local issues and residents' daily lives. These included the Gwanak S-Valley 3.0 initiative, a single-person household happiness city project, and the Gwanaksan Sky Forest Trail project.
Particularly highly rated were his efforts to clearly define the policy goals and priorities of each pledge and to present not only implementation procedures and timelines but also specific funding plans covering district, city, national and private investment sources.
For the ninth round, Park set "innovative, inclusive and collaborative governance" as the district's administrative philosophy and put forward a vision of a "together-first Gwanak-gu where everyone is happy." To realize this, the district plans to systematically pursue its campaign projects under six core administrative goals.
The six goals are: a "together economy" built on innovation and mutual growth; an inclusive "basic happiness society"; a "national youth capital" — a youth-focused special city full of energy; top-ranked "premier education and culture" nationwide; a sustainable and safe "healing garden city"; and a wide-open "AI innovation Gwanak district office."
Park achieved a 99.8 percent campaign pledge fulfillment rate during the eighth round, and Gwanak-gu has also received an SA (top) rating for three consecutive years in the Korea Manifesto Practice Headquarters' nationwide evaluation of basic local government heads' pledge fulfillment and information disclosure.
"This award is thanks to the efforts of the 500,000 residents of Gwanak-gu and our staff, who are building the district's future together," Park said. "Going forward, I will fulfill our promises to residents one by one, with humility."
seouldream01@heraldcorp.com
