President Lee Calls to "Minimize Public Injustice," Proposes Considering "Complaint Resolution Allowance"

▲ President Lee Jae-myung delivers opening remarks at a civil complaint innovation case reporting session held in Sejong City on October 2.

President Lee Jae-myung presided over the "Civil Complaint Innovation Case Reporting Session," meeting with public officials in charge of resolving civil petitions to hear about their experiences in the field.

Around 500 people, including civil servants handling complaints and conflict management from central government ministries, local governments, and offices of education, attended the meeting and shared field cases of resolving unusual, repetitive, and collective complaints, as well as institutional improvement cases that reshaped administrative frameworks prompted by civil petitions.

In his opening remarks, President Lee noted that many citizens suffer due to unresolved complaints, saying, "As they constantly cling to and repeat petitions, grievances grow and their lives themselves are destroyed." He added, "The world is not heaven, but we must not let (such petitioners) fall into hell either."

He continued, "In fact, many people even pass away from severe emotional distress. (If complaints are not resolved,) it drives them mad," emphasizing, "We must ensure that their sense of injustice is minimized so that they can return to their daily lives."

He added, "Our government is called a popular sovereignty government, and those people (petitioners) are the masters of this country and each a precious universe in their own right. They are just as precious as my own life," calling for proactive listening to and resolution of civil complaints.

President Lee also suggested applying them to the field, citing civil complaint policies from his past tenure as the mayor of Seongnam as an example.

President Lee explained, "I once used a policy of identifying civil complaints in advance. I told staff that it was fine if they could not resolve them, but to just uncover as many as possible, giving bonus points in personnel evaluations for good performance. Through this, we ultimately ended up listening to many opinions of the residents."

He also added, "I think we need to increase dedicated staff for civil complaints and award more commendations. If necessary, I wonder if it would be a good idea to create a 'complaint resolution allowance.'"

Encouraging the public officials in charge of handling civil petitions, President Lee said, "It requires a lot of care, and it is honestly difficult work. We should be considerate of and compensate for that hardship," adding, "You are the doctors healing the pain of the Republic of Korea."

(Photo: Cheong Wa Dae Press Corps, Yonhap News)

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