- Yoo Jeong-bok administration completes 43 projects in just a year, 153% of its target -

- City has managed to attract the Overseas Koreans Agency, abolish tolls for Yeongjong and Incheondaegyo Bridges, attract the global bio campus, etc. -

All indicators suggest the 8th democratically elected metropolitan administration of Incheon is well on track to delivering on its election promises. 

Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok) commissioned its own interim inspection to gauge where its administration stands in terms of fulfilling election pledges made during the 8th democratic mayoral election, and to find means to bring lagging projects back on track to meet established targets. 

Of the 10 key policies, 120 promises, and 400 initiatives pledged during the election, 365 were at least in line with annual targets, whereas 43 were already complete or ongoing. This means, in total, Major Yoo Jeong-bok’s administration has already delivered on 10.8% of its election pledges.

This is 5.1%p higher than the progress made by the previous administration during the same period. It also means the City is ahead of schedule (by 153%) compared to its goal set for 2023 at just 28 pledges completed. 

During the election, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and his camp promised to complete 183 new initiatives by 2026, and 132 initiatives with target dates beyond his term in office. Most projects were longer-term initiatives involving railway and road constructions. Considering that it takes time to establish a master plan, conduct a feasibility study, and commission other services required during the early stages of these initiatives, Incheon appears well on its way to meeting its targets on time or even earlier than originally scheduled.

 ￭ Project by target completion date

(unit: projects)

※ Implementation plan for election promises for the 8th democratically elected administration / [Incheon Metropolitan City, published in 2023]

Although securing enough funds for the vast array of initiatives proposed by the Mayor was a point of concern early on, Incheon was able to secure KRW 9.0866 trillion of the KRW 9.1150 trillion requested for its budget from 2022 to 2023 (99.7%), and records show that it has spent KRW 6.2607 trillion (68.9%) of its budget as of the end of June 2023.

Although securing enough funds for the vast array of initiatives proposed by the Mayor was a point of concern early on, Incheon was able to secure KRW 9.0866 trillion of the KRW 9.1150 trillion requested for its budget from 2022 to 2023 (99.7%), and records show that it has spent KRW 6.2607 trillion (68.9%) of its budget as of the end of June 2023.

 ￭ City budget and execution (2022~2023)

 (As of June 30, 2023, KRW ‘000,000)

In the first year of the 8th civil election, Incheon City prepared a master plan for its pledges and drafted a roadmap to help execute them as effectively as possible. As for its second year, the City will push the pace in executing its projects so that the general public can feel and benefit from the new initiatives, and thus the Yoo Jeong-bok administration plans to focus on identifying and promoting initiatives with greater levels of interest from the general public.

Over the past year, the City has done its best to give Incheon and its people a better sense of what it stands for and what its identity is. Most importantly, it won its bid to host the Overseas Koreans Agency as well as the global bio campus, and it also abolished toll fares for both Yeongjongdaegyo and Incheondaegyo Bridges for Yeongjongdo residents. Not only that, the City’s administration revamped the Incheon Sarang Exemplary Citizen Award to add more categories and pushed for initiatives that could help secure new growth engines and improve the quality of life across all of Incheon. The City’s focus on creating a better living environment for its citizens gave the 8th democratically elected administration the momentum it needs to deliver on its election pledges faster than expected.

Incheon’s progress has helped Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok and his administration gain plenty of glowing reviews from outside the City.

Over the past year, the election pledges made by Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok’s 8th democratically elected administration earned the “SA” grade in two categories, “substance” and “transparency,” respectively, in an evaluation done by the Korea Manifesto Center. Moreover, last May, the Incheon Citizens' Coalition for Economic Justice praised how Mayor Yoo and his camp were able to pledge 400 initiatives as part of his election campaign.

However, reduced tax income both on the national and local level, combined with the central government's fiscal austerity policy, means careful measures to secure financial resources may be essential going forward given the fact that Incheon has multiple projects supported by not only local funding at the city, county, and district level, but also matching resources from the central government.

Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, “We want to execute our pledges ahead of schedule and complete them within my term in office by communicating and building a consensus with the general public.” He added, “My administration will make sure to transform Incheon into a world-class city where our citizens are happy thanks to the balanced development between the old city center and the newer districts. We also want to bring in and develop high-tech industries that could drive the future forward for Korea.”

Information on the progress and status of all election pledges for the past year are available on the City’s official website (“Mayor’s Office” page).

<Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok in a briefing for “Progress and plans for election pledges made during the 8th democratic election” at the video conference room in City Hall on October 4, 2022. > 

Highlights for the 10 key policy pledges