“A Greater Changwon Is Coming” ... Changwon Special City Mayor Kang Kiyoon Wraps Up Tour, Bringing Together Residents’ Hopes Across Five Districts

Tour of Five Districts for "2026 Dialogue with Residents" Concludes

Kang Ki-yoon, mayor of Changwon Special City in Gyeongsangnam-do, successfully wrapped up his tour of the city's five districts with a dialogue with Seongsan-gu residents on October 26, concluding the “2026 Dialogue with Residents” series.

Changwon Mayor Kang Kiyoon delivers remarks as he wraps up his visit to Seongsan-gu, one of the city's five districts. [Photo courtesy of Changwon City]

The dialogue has been hailed as opening a new chapter in “field-centered communicative administration” by going beyond simply gathering opinions and connecting the voices of residents in their daily lives to municipal policy tasks.

The final event in the series across the five districts, the dialogue with Seongsan-gu residents, was held at the Changwon Convention Center, drawing around 300 attendees.

A key feature of the dialogue was its innovative approach to communication: vlog-style videos and artificial intelligence (AI)-generated voice were used to present the city's policy direction in an accessible way, encouraging residents to freely raise local issues and inconveniences in their daily lives.

The “paper airplane performance,” which drew attention at every event, became a symbol of communication. Residents wrote messages of support and suggestions on colorful paper airplanes and tossed them into the air, and the mayor personally read and responded to them. This played a major role in lowering barriers to communication and bringing the energy of the events to life.

At the final event in Seongsan-gu, residents put forward a series of concrete proposals to promote local development and improve living conditions. Key suggestions included building the Ungnam-dong National Sports Center and the Sinwol Senior Comprehensive Welfare Center; expanding the range of vehicles permitted to use BRT-only lanes; improving sidewalks and roundabouts; and easing district-unit planning restrictions in detached-house neighborhoods in Changwon's satellite city. These and other issues closely related to residents' daily lives were discussed in depth.

Changwon Special City Mayor Kang Giyoon brings together the hopes of citizens from five districts to open the door to “Greater Changwon” tomorrow. [Photo provided by Changwon City]

Throughout the tour, Kang Ki-yoon, mayor of Changwon Special City, said, “Every resident's words are a valuable signpost illuminating Changwon's future,” and pledged to promptly and systematically follow up on suggestions raised at the events.

Kang Ki-yoon, mayor of Changwon Special City, said, “What I saw as I visited the five districts was residents' deep affection for their hometown and their yearning for change. I will bring together all of the city's capabilities to make Changwon a place where everyone can feel happy, ensuring that the precious hopes of its one million residents, expressed through the paper airplanes, are realized as policies.”

We hope that Changwon Mayor Kang Ki-yoon will listen carefully to residents' voices, reflect them in policy, and build a greater Changwon.

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