Mayor Ahn Seung-nam of Guri, Gyeonggi Province, is known as “the happy preacher.” He uses the word “happy” or “happiness” a lot ever since taking office as the 16th mayor of Guri in July 2018.

“Who wouldn’t want to be happy? Most people aspire to be happy. Even if they may not be at the moment, people search for future happiness,” said Ahn, on why he emphasizes happiness so much.

As Ahn took office, he put forward “Guri, a special city for people’s happiness” as the slogan of the city government. He said, “In short, the vision of Guri City is to establish and practice policies that double the happiness of its people.”

The biggest priority of the city governance is to give greater happiness to its people, he said. “That is to say, Guri, not as a city, but its people must be happy.”

He said that making people happy is “most rewarding” to him as mayor. “I gain confidence from the fact that I’m here to help people become happier.”

“Economic growth, such as one based on gross domestic product, alone cannot make everyone happier,” he said. “We need to think about health care, education, housing and jobs. My biggest ambition is to make Guri a much happier city to live in.”

Ahn went on, “The right to pursue happiness is a constitutional right. And my job is to materialize that right through detailed policy steps.” He said the city government is working on making policies and building systems that will make Guri a happy city, in what is known as the “10 Citizen Happiness Policies.”

Ahn enacted the “Ordinance on the Promotion of Citizens’ Happiness in Guri City” in December 2019 as a cornerstone for his happiness project. In 2022, he said Guri will lead South Korea in making the country where people are happy with his 10 policies.

His major happiness policies are: ensuring a family doctor for everyone; equal access to education; guaranteeing rights to care, safety and housing; a carbon-free future; and jobs for everyone.

Ahn said, I think that “policies for Guri’s happiness will be easily realized if every citizen does his or her part.”

Ahn is also nicknamed the “man in the yellow shirt.” After becoming elected, he said safety has been his top area of focus. He said he wears yellow because it is the color on safety warning signs and of cab driver uniforms. He wants to be a mayor who puts safety first, like a veteran cab driver. He wears shirts in different shades of yellow depending on the issue.

“In the new year I promise to do my best to make the people of Guri feel safer and happier,” he said.

By Park Joung-kyu and The Korea Herald (kys@heraldcorp.com)