Paju City Wins Top Prize at Korea SNS Awards for Citizen Engagement

Instagram Followers Up Sevenfold in Four Years
Promoting City Policies Through Citizen Reporting Team and AI Content

Paju City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 27th that it had won the top prize in the city category for basic local governments at the 16th Korea SNS Awards 2026.

Paju Mayor Son Baechan receives the top prize in the city category for basic local governments at the 16th 2026 Korea SNS Awards. Provided by Paju City.

Organized by the Korea Social Contents Association and sponsored by the Ministry of Science and ICT and others, the awards recognize public institutions and companies based on a comprehensive evaluation of their social media performance.

Paju City operates six official social media channels, including Instagram, YouTube, blogs and Facebook, and has expanded citizen participation with content tailored to each platform.

Content combining entertainment and information has led to an increase in subscribers. YouTube subscribers grew from 6,063 in 2022 to 19,033 as of October this year, an increase of approximately 3.1 times. Over the same period, Instagram followers rose from 4,344 to 30,479, an increase of approximately seven times.

The city has produced short videos for YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, and introduced local policies and tourism resources through collaborations with celebrities, including actress Kim Young-ok and choreographer J Black. Content featuring its official character, Parang, has helped make the city more approachable, while social media has been used to quickly share information during disasters and other incidents and accidents.

Twenty members of the citizen reporting team, Paju Allimi, have covered tourist attractions and daily-life information from the citizens' perspective. During cherry blossom and fall foliage seasons, the city has shared photos taken by residents to report on bloom and foliage conditions in different areas.

The city has also expanded its approaches to content creation by using generative artificial intelligence (AI) to produce videos, music and illustrations, and holding an AI video contest for residents.

Paju Mayor Son Baechan said, "This award is an achievement we have reached together with the residents who have shown interest in and participated in Paju City's social media. We will continue working to deliver information residents need in a clear and accurate way and to serve as a communication channel that listens to their voices."

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