- 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) Sort Total Within current term After current term Total 2022 2023 2024 2025 2026 Total 400 267 8 20 27 30 183 132 Election pledges 178 102 5 7 15 15 60 76 Publicly proposed pledges 222 165 3 13 12 15

- City improves access to medicine by adding ten more pharmaciesin Seo-gu (Geomdan and Cheongna) and Yeonsu-gu -Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok) says it is adding more public late-night pharmacies this year, bringing the total from 13 at the end of last year to a total of 27 in eight districts across Incheon as of the end of June.Last year, Seo-gu (Geomdan, Cheongna) and Yeonsu-gu residents has no late-night pharmacies nearby. Fortunately, however, this year, Incheon designated 10 new public late-night pharmacies across Seo-gu and Yeonsu-gu. This means that wherever you are in Incheon, you can find a public late-night pharmacy within a 3km radius (15 minutes)Public late-night pharmacies sell medicines and offer advice on medication for emergencies during late-night hours (10:00 pm to 1:00 am, including holidays).The number of public late-night pharmacies in Incheon, first of which was created in 2019 (three pharmacies), increased to five in 2020, 11 in 2021, and 13 in 2022. This month, the initiative will take a massive leap forward to reach 27 in total.Ganghwa and Ongjin are exceptions. Given the sparse population, there is little demand for pharmacies during late-night hours. Thus, the City has been unable to find a pharmacy willing to stay open at night. Incheon plans to weigh its options and find a solution that works instead of public late-night pharmacies to make sure it keeps both locals and tourists healthy at all times.Meanwhile, Incheon inspects public late-night pharmacies at least once a month. Special inspections on late-night pharmacies between June 20 to July 2, confirmed that all 27 locations were open as required during late-night hours.Shin Nam-sik, Director of the Health and Welfare Bureau of Incheon, said, “Expanding the list of public late-night pharmacies is meaningful in providing public medical services to all citizens of Incheon without any gaps.” He added, “We will explore all of the options at our disposal, such as se

… Incheon becomes first to hostIUGG General Assembly in Korea- Songdo to host “2027 International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics General Assembly” for 11 days in July 2027 -- More than 5,000 experts from all over the world heading over to Incheon to share their research in geodesy and geophysics -Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok), Incheon Tourism Organization (CEO: Hyeon Baig), and the Korea Tourism Organization (CEO: Jang-sil Kim), together with the IUGG Korean Committee (President: Lee Sang-Mook), have won their bid to host the “2027 International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics General Assembly (IUGG)” for the first time in Korea.At the 28th IUGG Berlin General Assembly in Berlin, Germany, on July 18 (local time), Incheon managed to beat out the competition thanks to great accessibility, culture and tourism resources, and MICE infrastructure across the City.This means the IUGG General Assembly, held every four years, will be coming to Asia for the second time in 20 years - IUGG General Assembly was last held in Asia back in 2003 (Japan). As an international academic conference that promotes research and academic achievements in the field of geosciences, the General Assembly is also a great place to coordinate future research.This IUGG General Assembly will get under way at Incheon's Songdo Convensia for 11 days from July 12 to 22, 2027. Incheon is expecting more than 5,000 scientists and experts from both Korea and abroad to attend the event. By hosting The IUGG General Assembly, the City is hoping for a massive boost economically and socially. In particular, the event could generate up to KRW 16.6 billion in production and income.Director of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Kim Chung-jin said, “Incheon has already hosted a number of international events and summits, including the 56th Asian Development Bank Annual Meeting in Songdo last year. Based on our experience and know-how in hosting international events, we will spare no support fo

- On July 11 (Tue), all three parties meet and sign the “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation to Create a Co-living Space in the Metropolitan Area” -- Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-di agree to address ten common issues, including the disposal of waste from the metropolitan area, and building a wide-area transportation network -- New MOU could become a driving force in solving critical issues and improving the quality of life in the metropolitan area -Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-do have decided to address common issues in the metropolitan area, including waste disposal and the construction of a wide-area transportation network, together.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, and Gyeonggi-do Governor Kim Dong-yeon met in Suwon (Dodamso) on July 11 to sign the “Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation to Create a Co-living Space in the Metropolitan Area.”Signing ceremony for the Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation to Create a Co-living Space in the Metropolitan Area between Gyeonggi-do, Seoul, and IncheonAs part of this new initiative, Incheon, Seoul, and Gyeonggi-do will look to establish a “co-living” zone, and find new ways together to improve the quality of life of residents across the metropolitan area by establishing a foundation of mutual trust between the three municipalities.According to the MOU, all three parties agreed to help solve ten common issues pending in the metropolitan area. These ten issues are: ▲Stable and efficient waste management in the metropolitan area; ▲Resolving railway/subway issues and promoting the arterial road network project in the metropolitan area; ▲Bringing the Gyeongin and Gyeongbu Line underground; ▲Introducing eco-friendly metropolitan buses, expanding inter-city bus routes, and adding more late-night bus services; ▲ Amending/abolishing outdated and unreasonable metropolitan area regulations; ▲Offering mutual support for international sports and international events; ▲ Expan

- City removes 92 banners, including banners put up by political parties,in just two days -- Other Gun/Gu districts to start removing illegal bannersin most complained about areas -Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok) and Yeonsu-gu (Governor: Lee Jae-ho) say they have finished removing banners in violation of the “Incheon Outdoor Advertising Ordinance.” The initiative, which started on July 12, has helped Yeonsu-gu remove all illegal banners across its district in just two days.Previously, on June 8, Incheon amended its City Ordinance pertaining to banners put up by political parties. Now, political parties must post banners in designated zones only and limit the number of banners to four per electoral district. But, perhaps most importantly, banners cannot contain hate messages or content that slanders opposing parties. Thereafter, the City spent more than a full month promoting the new initiative, and on July 12, it started removing illegal banners.On July 12, Yeonsu-gu officials remove banners in violation of Incheon’s Outdoor Advertising Ordinance near Sogeumbat Sageori intersection.On July 12, Yeonsu-gu officials remove banners in violation of Incheon’s Outdoor Advertising Ordinance near Sogeumbat Sageori intersection.Meanwhile, the council of Gun/Gu Governors adopted a resolution to remove all illegal banners under the amended City Ordinance, and Yeonsu-gu volunteered to be the first to comply with the new resolution.On July 12, more than 17 officials roamed across the district and removed 84 illegal banners from 47 locations. Political parties also volunteered to remove some of their own banners that were in violation of the amended City Ordinance (33 banners). On the following day, July 13, Yeonsu-gu officials combed through the district again, removing eight banners from eight locations. In Yeonsu-gu alone, 92 banners were removed from 55 locations in just two days.Since removing these illegal banners, Yeonsu-gu has not seen any new bann

- Rising local demand, subsiding threat of COVID-19, and opening of the Overseas Koreans Agency push Incheon to resume service -- City plans to add more buses and explore additional routes this December -Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok) announced that airport limousine bus no. 6777 from Songdo to Incheon International Airport will resume its service on July 14. Previously, bus no. 6777 was suspended due to COVID-19.Airport limousine bus no. 6777 (Songdo↔Incheon International AirportBus no. 6777 runs from Songdo to Incheon International Airport, and was an important means of transportation for the local residents of Songdo, who have a hard time getting to and from the Airport via the subway network. The number of passengers using bus no. 6777 dwindled during COVID-19, and the City had no choice but to suspend its operation in January 2021.Local residents have been asking the City to resume bus no. 6777, yet the administration was hesitant to resume service with COVID-19 still around. Now that COVID-19 has become more of an endemic disease, and the fact that the Overseas Koreans Agency opened on June 5 in Songdo, Incheon is ready to resume bus no. 6777. As such, the City negotiated with local transportation companies, and agreed to resume service in July.Three buses will run the route twelve times a day at service intervals between 30 and 90 minutes. In particular, the City extended the route to start from the Incheon International Airport's Passenger Terminal, making bus no. 6777 much more convenient for Songdo residents in plot no. 8. Also, passengers traveling between Incheon Port and the Airport will have a much easier time transiting to the next leg of their journey.Moreover, upon consulting with local transportation companies, the City plans to secure three additional buses this December and create a new route from the Incheon Bus Terminal to Incheon International Airport that passes through all of the major stations on Incheon Metro Line 1 and

- Incheon Metropolitan City-Yonsei University Consortium helps win the public tender commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare -- New Campus to train and develop more than 2,000 experts in bio industries from low- to middle-income countries annually, making the domestic bio industry more competitive than ever -- Incheon to open facilities in the first half of next year, soft open the Campus in the second half, and fully open at the end of the year -Incheon has once again proven itself to be a “super-gap” Mecca for the bio industry.Incheon Metropolitan City (Mayor: Yoo Jeong-bok), together with Yonsei University, applied for the “Global Bio Campus Project” commissioned by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in May. The Ministry recently announced its final decision to approve Incheon’s bid to host the main campus of the Global Bio Campus (GTH-B).* GTH-B: Global Training Hub for BiomanufacturingPreviously, in February 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) chose Korea as a global training hub for bio industry experts. To that end, the Korean government submitted a letter of intent to train more than 2,000 global bio experts from low- and middle-income countries each year to contribute to solving the inequality in global vaccine development and distribution.Vaccine and bio-processing traineesVaccine and bio-processing traineesFollowing up on this plan, in May, the government posted a public tender for the Global Bio Campus Project nationwide to help address the rising demand for manpower in the domestic bio and vaccine industry, to strengthen the competitiveness of the bio industry, and to nurture experts in the bio-pharmaceutical production process from low- and middle-income countries.Upon learning the news of this Project, Incheon quickly formed a consortium with Yonsei University on June 2 and submitted a proposal for the Global Bio Campus (GTH-B), which was also part of a pledge made by the City’s 8th democratically elected administration. F

- Mayor highlights cooperation and exchange with a new Pan-Yellow Sea economic community between Korea, China, and Japan -- Gives a special lecture on “The role of local governments” atNankai University, one of China’s most prestigious universities -Incheon Metropolitan City Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, who is on a trip to China, proposed a trilateral conference between governors and mayors at the helm of local governments in Korea, China, and Japan to facilitate cooperation and exchange between the three countries and help build a better future for Northeast Asia.The Mayor emphasized the role of local governments in improving the relations between Northeast Asian countries at a special lecture for Chinese and international university students at Nankai University, one of China's top five prestigious universities, on June 29.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok giving a special lecture on “Why Korea should pay attention to Incheon” to Chinese and international university students at Nankai University in Tianjin, China, on June 29.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok visiting Nankai University in Tianjin, China, on June 29 and taking a tour around the Nankai University History Museum.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok taking a commemorative photo after the “Cultural Exchange Performance to Commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the Sister City Agreement between Incheon and Tianjin” (Grand Theater in Tianjin, China) on June 29.The trilateral conference between governors and mayors of Korea, China, and Japan to facilitate growth could give the three countries an opportunity to discuss potential exchanges between local governments.Currently, Korea hosts separate meetings with China and Japan. Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok proposed the trilateral conference to bring the three countries together and discuss the future of Northeast Asia as a collective. By doing so, the Mayor is hoping that the heads of local governments in Korea, Japan, and China can strengthen mutual cooperation by establishing a new P

- Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok says, “Despite tension at the national level,we must strengthen our exchange and cooperation at thelocal government level” -- Mayor also explains that Incheon plays a crucial rolein the peace and stability of the Korean Peninsula.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok met with Børge Brende, Chairperson of the World Economic Forum (WEF), and highlighted the importance of continued exchange at the local government level.Incheon Metropolitan City announced that Mayor Yoo Jung-bok, who attended the World Economic Forum held in Tianjin, China, met with WEF Chairperson Børge Brende on June 28 to discuss new means of cooperation.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok discussing means to cooperate with WEF Chairperson Børge Brende at the Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center in Tianjin, China, on June 28.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok greeting guests at the “Tianjin Overseas Korean Residents Conference” (Tianjin Saixiang Hotel in Tianjin, China) on June 28.Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok delivering a congratulatory speech at the 2023 Global Forum on Urban Governance and the seventh East Asia Portal City Policy Forum (Shangri-La Hotel in Tianjin, China) on June 28.Chairperson Brende said, “Incheon is a fast-growing city, and I am well aware that Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok is a very influential politician.”Responding to Brende, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok took the opportunity to promote his City, saying, “With the recent establishment of the Overseas Koreans Agency in Incheon, our city has become home to more than 10 million people, which includes the 7.5 million overseas Koreans living across 193 countries as well as the 3 million citizens of Incheon itself.”When Brende asked how the relationship between Korea and Japan and between Korea and China was, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok said, “The relationship between Korea and Japan, which has been tense for a while now, is starting to ease somewhat since President Yoon Suk Yeol took office. Also, Korea, Japan, and the US are important

- Incheon Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok talks possible cooperationand exchange with Tianjin Party Secretary of Tianjin,signs joint declaration with Tianjin’s Mayor -- Tianjin Mayor Zhang Gong says he is looking forwardto working closely with Incheon at the trilateral conferencefor growth between Korea, China, and Japan -Incheon and Tianjin (China) agreed to resume passenger ferry services between the two cities as early as possible, and to encourage exchange as well as cooperation across a variety of different fields going forward.During his trip to Tianjin, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok met with the Secretary of Tianjin's Communist Party Committee, Chen Min'er, and the City’s Mayor, Zhang Gong, at the State Guest House on June 29 to explore the possibility of resuming the currently suspended car ferry service between Incheon and Tianjin.Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok discussing means of future cooperation with the Secretary of Tianjin's Communist Party Committee, Chen Min'er, and the City’s Mayor, Zhang Gong, at the State Guest House on June 29.The car ferry service between the two cities, which started on December 24, 1991, was suspended more than three years ago in February 2020 due to the advanced service age of the ferry itself (30 years).In this regard, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok, Secretary Chen Min’er, and Mayor Zhang Gong agreed that the prolonged suspension of the ferry service is inhibiting not only trade, but also the free movement of people, and that the ferry should resume its services in the near future.Moreover, Secretary Chen Min-er Cheon supported Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok’s proposal to form a cooperative economic community featuring the Mayors/Provincial Governors from Korea (Incheon), China (Tianjin), and Japan (Kobe). Zhang Gong said a new cooperative community could indeed help the development, future prospects, and stability of all three countries.Prior to this, in a special lecture at Nankai University on the same day, Mayor Yoo Jeong-bok proposed the same cooperative economic