Cheongnyangni Station Plaza Youth Hub Center 'Dongdaemun Orang' Opens

Dongdaemun-gu to Establish Youth Hub Center at Cheongnyangni Station Plaza, a Key Transportation Hub... A New Base for Youth Activities Including Information, Comprehensive Counseling, and Community Participation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor You Deok-yeol) has opened ‘Seoul Youth Center Dongdaemun Orang’ (hereinafter Dongdaemun Orang), a representative youth space in the northeastern area of Seoul that provides various youth policies and services.

Dongdaemun-gu is home to many universities such as Kyung Hee University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, and University of Seoul, resulting in a large youth population active in the area. However, there was a lack of spaces to collectively consider youth life and support youth activities.

Accordingly, Dongdaemun-gu held several meetings with the Seoul Metropolitan Government Youth Division, Korea National Railway Corporation, Hanwha Station, and others to establish Dongdaemun Orang at Cheongnyangni Station Plaza (Wangsan-ro 210), a key transportation hub.

Unlike other Orang centers, Dongdaemun-gu directly participated in all processes including space discovery, design, and construction.

Located just a one-minute walk from Exit 4 of Cheongnyangni Station, Dongdaemun Orang boasts excellent accessibility and is the only Orang in Seoul housed in a standalone building rather than leasing part of an existing building, increasing its usability.

Dongdaemun Orang has a total floor area of 480.71㎡ across three above-ground floors. The first floor includes a book cafe, small-scale network lounge, shared kitchen, and operations office. The second floor offers office space for youth prospective entrepreneurs, a YouTube channel operation space, meeting rooms, counseling rooms, and rest areas. The third floor consists of a seminar room accommodating up to 40 people and an outdoor rest area.

Due to COVID-19, the center was initially operated online without an official opening. However, as social distancing guidelines eased to level 2, the center now operates while strictly adhering to quarantine guidelines, limiting facility usage to 30% capacity, and providing one-on-one counseling rooms and non-face-to-face interview spaces within single-person startup rooms.

Operating hours are Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (until 9 p.m. under level 2 distancing), Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and closed on Sundays and public holidays.

Additionally, users who join the Orang membership can receive more diverse benefits.

Furthermore, Dongdaemun Orang has established a comprehensive counseling support system to assist youth with various concerns such as unemployment, economic issues, housing problems, and psychological challenges, linking them to youth policy projects for support.

Other planned activities include supporting the formation of safe and sustainable networks, planning and operating customized programs based on youth needs revealed during project operations, providing spaces where youth can freely engage in activities and rest, and running community support programs actively.

For more details, inquiries can be made to Seoul Youth Center Dongdaemun Orang.

Due to COVID-19, instead of an in-person opening ceremony, an opening commemorative video featuring facility introductions and congratulatory messages from Mayor You Deok-yeol of Dongdaemun-gu and youth representatives will be produced and released in March on the DBS Dongdaemun-gu Office Internet Broadcasting YouTube channel.

Mayor You Deok-yeol of Dongdaemun-gu stated, “I hope that during these difficult times due to COVID-19, youth will always be able to visit Dongdaemun Orang to heal their minds and nurture their dreams for the future,” and added, “We will build a solid youth support system so that Dongdaemun Orang can become a new hub for youth policies.”