Incheon Fair Ode to Inchon and Mayor Ahn Sang-soo

By Choi Yearn-hong

Korea Times Columnist

WASHINGTON ― Mayor Ahn Sang-soo has been chosen for the 2009 Woodrow Wilson Center's public service award. I congratulate him, and present my poem and essay for the award ceremony.

In the last years of the Yi Dynasty, A seaside village established a dock for the first time For the anchorage of ships in 1875. As a matter of fact, it was the oldest town In Korean history as the first capital of the Baekje Kingdom In the first century. Its old name, Michuhol, is still a beautiful name. That name was changed into Jemulpo, When the nation-state was established in Korea. The current name, Incheon, emerged with the Republic of Korea in 1945. The first modernization wave came to Incheon: The first post office was established in 1844; The first Catholic church was built in 1890; and The first railroad was constructed from Incheon to Seoul In 1899 as the first Korea-U.S. joint enterprise. It has become a dynamic port city since the turn of the 20th century: It was a Seagate to Seoul and to Korea as a whole; It was a floodgate of foreigners and foreign goods to a new nation of Morning Calm It was a famous Korean War spot with the so-called 1950 Incheon Landing By a surprise by General Douglas McArthur when his strategy imprisoned The North Korean communist invaders and pressed them to surrender When the United Nations forces locked them up. It was the export port of the Korean products after the miraculous economic Developments in the 1960s and the 1970s. It has become a symbol of Korea toward the Five Oceans And the symbol of the world's #12 trading nation. In the beginning of the 21st century, Incheon opened the skyway Toward the world when the Yeongjongdo Airport was opened. It has become a hub of East Asia and a new gate to Southeast Asia. Mayor Ahn Sang-soo dreamed of making an international free economic zone In Incheon, designed and constructed Songdo and Yeongjongdo for special districts He is completing a great bridge from Incheon to the Yeongjongdo Airport. Mayor Ahn means an innovator; a CEO-turned to Mayor; a dreamer for the future; and a designer for peace and prosperity. Incheon elected Mayor Ahn twice as its prime leader: Ahn provides leadership to the Incheon citizens. They are seeking a good city to live together; They are seeking a good city to work together; and They are seeking a good city to conserve Their old city and town together. First of all, they are seeking a good city in which Citizens are working in pursuit of their happiness. God created nature. Mayor Ahn and the citizens are now creating a dreamful city For Incheon.

One of most recent photos of Mayor Ahn Sang-soo's in The Korea Times was taken with Guus Hiddink, who led the South Korean national football team to the semifinals of the 2002 World Cup. The two posed with a football after the appointment of the Dutchman as goodwill ambassador of the Global Fair & Festival Incheon 2009 in Songdo, Incheon.

The event opened on Aug. 8, and was attended by representatives of business and government as well as urban planners worldwide to explore futuristic urban development models and lifestyles utilizing up-to-date digital technologies.

Mayor Ahn's most important objective is ``futuristic" urban development. He has been searching for many meaningful changes for his city ― something that distinguishes him from other mayors.

His handsome image is supported by his sportsmanship. He is well known for his love of tennis but he enjoys all kinds of sports. His city will host the 2014 Asian Games. He not only utilizes his sportsmanship for his city, but also his knowledge of digital technologies. Also, he is constantly supplying newsworthy stories about Incheon to the media.

His dream is to make Incheon one of the ten best cities in the world. Mayor Ahn, who was a CEO before entering politics, is a member of a new political leadership group in South Korea. Korean politics has been dominated by so-called professional politicians, who are ardent followers of the three Kims who ruled the country from the 1960s to today.

The three Kims ― Kim Dae-jung, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Jong-pil ― represented their home provinces of Jeolla, Gyeongsang and Choongcheong. During the last 50 years, political aspirants in South Korea had to be loyal to their boss, one of the three Kims.

Current President Lee Myung-bak is the first President outside the shadow of the three Kims. Like President Lee, Mayor Ahn is a new kind of political leader who started his career independently from traditional political factionalism and personal followership.

South Koreans wanted a new kind of political leader at the turn of the 21st century, because they were sick and tired of personal politics without public policy orientation which so long resulted in a waste of taxpayers money and corruption.

The death of a former president demonstrated the tragedy of old style politics. Mayor Ahn is a product of the South Korean people's new expectation. Before becoming the mayor of Incheon, he was elected to the National Assembly.

He is a new, handsome, intelligent, intellectual, productive mayor and has promised citizens that the Incheon government can be run as a productive business organization, not a traditional city government.

He has been trying to create a cost-benefit analysis in the government decision-making process. Old politicians did not care about taxpayers money at all. Mayor Ahn's main philosophy of governance is that taxpayers' money is an investment in the general welfare of the citizens.

Not all public investments can be easily computable and quantifiable in the terms of the cost-benefit analysis. However, he has been trying and is still trying. He wants to return more to the citizens than they invest.

Mayor Ahn is concerned about the welfare of the citizens, the protection of citizens' lives and properties, the quality education of their children and their pursuit of happiness. His main concern is, naturally, economic progress and development for citizens.

As the mayor, he designed the city as an international free enterprise zone and implemented the plan in the Songdo, Youngjong and Cheongna districts in August 2003. The free economic zone created a new opportunity for economic growth for the citizens and the Korean people.