Seongbuk-gu wraps up third policy audition, selects five standout proposals

Seoul's Seongbuk-gu announced Tuesday that it had successfully held its third policy audition at Seongbuk Art Hall in the district office on Monday, selecting five standout policy proposals, including one on an AI-assisted construction accountability system.

The Seongbuk Policy Audition was created to help district employees turn everyday problems and improvement ideas they encounter on the job into concrete policies suited to local conditions.

This year, eligibility was expanded to all staff at the grade-6 level and below, as well as employees at affiliated public corporations and foundations, in order to capture a wider range of frontline perspectives. A total of 28 proposals were submitted, covering new projects to benefit residents and plans to adapt successful initiatives from other local governments to Seongbuk-gu's circumstances.

The final round featured policy proposals spanning resource recycling, community communication, safety management, climate response and youth participation. Presenters took the stage to explain the need for their proposals and outline implementation plans, then fielded questions from judges.

The top prize went to Kim Jun-hyeok, an official in the architecture division, for his proposal on an AI-assisted construction accountability system tailored to Seongbuk-gu. The proposal calls for using AI to cut the time spent on paperwork, freeing staff to focus more on on-site inspections.

Judges said the proposals demonstrated the passion of Seongbuk-gu's public servants, and said cross-departmental collaboration and a strong will to follow through would be essential to turning the ideas into actual policy.

Ideas surfaced through the audition have already made their way into programs for residents. The first edition's top proposal, a neighborhood garden festival, led to garden development and a broader garden culture movement across the district, while the second edition's top proposal — a welfare check system — is currently providing check-in services to about 3,200 residents.

Seongbuk-gu has held the policy audition since 2023, with the second edition taking place in 2024 and this year marking the third.

"We will review specific implementation plans so that employees' frontline experience can be translated into policies that residents truly need," Seongbuk-gu District Mayor Lee Seung-ro said.