Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Wins Prime Minister’s Award at the 22nd Korea Local Government Management Awards for Expanding Good Price Establishments

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Busan Metropolitan City, led by Mayor Chun Jae-soo, announced that it received the Prime Minister’s Award for its “Good Price Establishment Promotion Project” at the awards ceremony for the 22nd Korea Local Government Management Awards 2026, held yesterday, September 17. The award was presented following a nationwide competition recognizing outstanding local government initiatives that contribute to revitalizing local economies.

The Korea Local Government Management Awards are jointly hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Hankook Ilbo, with support from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment. The awards identify and recognize exemplary local government initiatives that contribute to revitalizing local economies.

This year’s competition was conducted from April through June across four categories: livelihood stability, strengthening local vitality, support for local youth, and development of locally specialized resources. Award recipients were selected through a first-round document review, an on-site inspection, and a second-round presentation review.

Busan Metropolitan City entered its “Good Price Establishment Promotion Project” in the Livelihood Stability category and was recognized for its achievements in helping stabilize local prices and revitalize the local economy.

The city has implemented a range of Busan-specific support policies to strengthen the competitiveness of Good Price Establishments, which contribute to local price stability, and to encourage greater public use of them.

First, to support the business stability of Good Price Establishments amid high inflation, the city launched a special financing program in February that provides each establishment with up to KRW 100 million in financing and subsidizes the interest-rate difference based on an annual rate of 2.5%.

Since June, the city has also been implementing the “Good Plus (+)” program. Under the program, customers who pay with Dongbaekjeon at Good Price Establishments receive an additional 5% cashback on top of the existing cashback benefit, reducing the financial burden on residents and encouraging greater use of participating establishments.

In particular, following the launch of the “Good Plus (+)” program, Dongbaekjeon payments at Good Price Establishments increased, prompting the city to extend the program.

Average monthly Dongbaekjeon payments at Good Price Establishments rose by approximately 60%, from KRW 1.7 billion before the program began to KRW 2.7 billion after its launch.

The additional cashback benefit was originally scheduled to run from June until August, when the allocated budget was expected to be exhausted. However, following additional central government funding from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the program period was extended and is expected to continue through December.

The city was also highly evaluated for establishing a cooperative system involving private-sector organizations, including consumer groups, industry associations, and merchant associations, as well as Busan Metropolitan City, district and county offices, and neighborhood-level administrative organizations, to identify additional Good Price Establishments and encourage their use.

Consumer groups participate in identifying and monitoring Good Price Establishments and promoting the program, while industry associations use their networks to encourage businesses to apply for designation and to help foster an environment of price stability.

While strengthening policy and financial support, the city also reinforced its public-private cooperation system to encourage neighborhood-level administrative organizations, which have close knowledge of local conditions, to identify eligible establishments. Measures included evaluating identification performance by administrative neighborhood, introducing special adjustment grants for districts and counties, and establishing incentives for employees who make notable contributions.

As a result of these efforts, the number of designated Good Price Establishments in Busan had increased by 337 year on year as of the end of June this year. Over the same period, the number increased by 120 in Seoul, 53 in Incheon, and 46 each in Daegu and Chungcheongnam-do.

Kim Ki-hwan, Assistant Mayor of Digital Economy Office, said, “This Prime Minister’s Award reflects not only the city’s policy efforts, but also the collective achievements of the local community, including small business owners who have sustained Good Price Establishments, consumer groups, and administrative organizations.”

He added, “We will continue to do our utmost to ensure that Good Price Establishments become firmly established as a leading livelihood policy that helps ease residents’ cost-of-living burden and brings renewed vitality to the local economy.”