Too many slogans, too little action, citizens say

The main entrance of Yongin City Office with the words "We will treat you like the national president."

By Ko Dong-hwan

Words "Special Mothers' City, Yongin" decorate Lespia Tower in Yongin's Sugi-gu district.

Yongin citizens have hit out at the city government for wasting time frequently updating city slogans instead of improving people’s lives.

In July 2015, the Gyeonggi Province city upset people with its slogan “Women capital, Yongin.”

Yongin City Council’s Park Nam-suk said at a meeting that eight out of 10 citizens knew nothing about the slogan and that the city still lacked welfare policies for women.

“Is it because the city merely introduced a football club consisting of married women or it nicknamed itself as ‘the city of prenatal education’?” Park said, according to Yongin News.

She emphasized that the Framework Act on Women’s Development changed the official names of its clauses on July 1 to embrace gender equality and stop calling for women’s exclusive rights.

“I advise the mayor to recognize the civic movement and employ it in running the city,” Park said

The giant controversial slogan was displayed on the outside of Lespia Tower in the city’s Suji-gu district.

But on Oct. 7, the words changed to “Special Mothers’ City, Yongin.”

The city’s official said the slogan was changed because the previous slogan’s subject was inadvertently broad and ideological and prevented the city from exercising welfare policies toward more specific groups.

“We will drop the previous slogan,” the official said, according to media outlet Asia Today.

“With the new slogan, the city will introduce more diverse and differentiated policies.”

But citizens are sour about the plan. One citizen was quoted as saying, “I was surprised to find that the slogan on the tower changed.

“Instead of playing with those words, the city must start implementing policies that women and other citizens can feel.”

Inadvertent word-play was also seen at the main entrance of Yongin City Office.

On Oct. 14, the office installed a red gate in front of the entrance with the words “We will treat you like the national president,” on it.

A Secretary Office official said the gate was recycled from an architecture culture festival held in front of the city hall earlier this month and the phrase was changed to “serve the office visitors and other citizens with sincerity.”

However, after eight days, the phrase changed into “Citizens are Yongin Mayor.”

The Secretary Office said the office changed the words after the previous words had raised criticism, according to Yongin News.

A city citizen who discovered the changed phrase was quoted as saying he was “saddened to realize that the city mayor and public workers have yet to understand what people want,” and the city must introduce policies that citizens could actually appreciate.