Gyeongsangnam-do Achieves Best-Ever Results, Named "Outstanding" in All Categories of Joint Government Evaluation under 8th Local Administration

Gyeongsangnam-do has been selected as an outstanding local government in all categories—quantitative, qualitative, and citizen evaluation—in the 2026 Joint Government Evaluation of Local Governments, hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.

On June 11, at the provincial government press center, the province announced, "In the first joint government evaluation since the launch of the current administration, Gyeongsangnam-do ranked first in the quantitative evaluation among provinces, second nationwide in the qualitative evaluation, and had one exemplary case selected in the citizen evaluation section."

In this evaluation, Gyeongsangnam-do achieved 100% of the targets for all 96 quantitative indicators, marking the province's best-ever performance.

This achievement represents a 1.1 percentage point increase from last year’s target achievement rate of 98.9%, and is 3.48 percentage points higher than the national average of 96.52%. After ranking first nationwide in 2021, the province has reclaimed the top spot in five years.

Kim Ki-young, Director of Planning and Coordination Office of Gyeongnam Province, is announcing the results of the government joint evaluation. [Photo by Lee Seryeong]

Additionally, in the qualitative evaluation, nine cases were selected as exemplary, setting a new record for the province.

The exemplary cases in the qualitative evaluation include: ▲youth participation in local communities ▲promotion of bicycle use ▲maintenance and utilization of outdoor advertisements ▲citizen participation in veterans’ cultural events and experiences ▲enhanced support for pregnancy and childbirth ▲improvement of regional emergency patient transfer and acceptance systems ▲strengthening of local and essential medical care ▲carbon-neutral green growth ▲policies related to autonomous police affairs.

Notably, the policy case titled "Though Distance Is Far, Life Is Close: Gyeongnam's Emergency Room Beacon Lights Save the Golden Time"—focused on improving the regional emergency patient transfer and acceptance system—was selected as an exemplary case in the citizen evaluation category, which is directly determined by citizens.

The province received high marks for establishing an emergency room beacon notification system in all 38 emergency medical institutions within the province, ensuring the golden time to save the lives of emergency patients.

This year’s joint government evaluation was conducted based on a total of 112 indicators, including 96 quantitative and 16 qualitative indicators, all linked to the five national policy objectives.

For last year’s performance, mutual verification among cities and provinces, as well as validation by central ministries and the joint evaluation team, was conducted. Quantitative indicators were assessed based on target achievement, and qualitative indicators were evaluated for exemplary cases.

Kim Ki-young, Director of the Planning and Coordination Office, stated, "It is the first time in our history that Gyeongsangnam-do has been selected as an outstanding local government in all fields—quantitative, qualitative, and citizen evaluation. This is the result of the unified efforts of the province, cities and counties, and all public officials."

He added, "Being selected as an outstanding local government in the government’s official evaluation at the conclusion of the 8th local administration is proof that Gyeongsangnam-do’s policies are recognized as the best in the nation, worthy of comparison anywhere in Korea."

He further emphasized, "We will not be satisfied with this evaluation and will strengthen our field-oriented administration in the 9th local administration, so that every resident of the province can feel the impact in their daily lives."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.