S. Korea wins UN awards for public service

South Korea has won two United Nations awards in recognition of its efforts to connect rural villages to the Internet and cut administrative red tape, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security said Saturday.

The U.N. Public Service Awards are the "most prestigious international recognition of excellence in public service" that rewards public service institutions for their achievements that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration across the world, according to the program's Web site.

In this year's awards, the ministry said, South Korea won first place among countries in Asia and the Pacific in the category of "fostering participation in policy-making decisions through innovative mechanisms." The award recognizes the government project to connect 362 farming and fishing villages to high-speed Internet that also enables them to make online transactions.

In the category of "improving the delivery of services," the ministry said South Korea was awarded second place for its website on which various customer services are handled, including requests for more than 3,000 different types of official documents. Of these, about 1,200 can be printed at home or at the workplace.

"We are the first department within the central government to take both first and second places among the U.N. Public Service Awards at the same time," a ministry official said, requesting anonymity. "It's an opportunity to demonstrate the excellence of South Korea's public administration to the world."

Other categories for the awards included the prevention and combating of corruption in public services. The awards will be given on June 23, which has been designated by the U.N. as Public Service Day. (Yonhap)