South Korea's interior and safety ministry held a competition on Thursday to gather opinions from citizens on how to make public services better.<br />Around a dozen teams presented their ideas as they competed for the top prize,... a Presidential Citation.<br />Yoon Jung-min reports. <br /> The South Korean government is seeking ways... to encourage citizens' participation in their policymaking decisions... as a way to achieve true democracy.<br />On Thursday, the interior and safety ministry hosted a competition in Seoul... to gather ideas from the public... on ways to improve public services.<br />A total of 11 teams... including ordinary citizens and government officials from across the nation... presented their ideas.<br />The goal of the event was to improve the quality of government services,... ranging from social welfare, local festivals, youth employment to more.<br /><br /> One team won the Presidential Citation and two teams were granted the Prime Minister's Citation,... while others were awarded prizes by the interior ministry.<br />The teams discussed outreach programs to help people in need in their communities,... and ways to revitalize local festivals and other projects as well.<br /><br /> "I hope our residents can enjoy a better, more positive life through our projects, although they are suffering from poor living conditions right now."<br /><br /> "Local festivals are very common events anyone can enjoy. But there are a lot of problems, too. We came up with the idea to solve such issues through the perspective of young people."<br /><br /> The ministry says heeding the public's voice is important for policymakers... as they can better determine what people want from the government.<br /><br /> The ideas presented at the competition will be shared with other government agencies to improve quality of public services.<br />Yoon Jung-min, Arirang News. <br />
