Geumcheon-gu Confirms Next Year's Living Wage at 10,766 Won, Up 2.15%

[Seoul District News] Geumcheon-gu Sets 2022 Living Wage at 10,766 KRW per Hour, 2,250,094 KRW Monthly... Gwanak-gu Launches Social Contribution Projects to Provide Emergency Sales Channels for Young Small Business Owners and Strengthen Safety Nets for Welfare Blind Spots... Seongdong-gu Operates 'Visiting Screening Clinics' at Construction Sites... Yeongdeungpo-gu Opens Spacious Moms Garden for Infants, Parents, and Women... 3rd Dobong-gu Online and Offline Job Fair Held

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yu Seong-hoon) has finalized the 2022 living wage at 10,766 KRW per hour, the same amount as Seoul City's living wage.

The 2022 living wage in Geumcheon-gu is 1,606 KRW (17.5%) higher than next year's minimum wage of 9,160 KRW per hour, and 226 KRW (2.15%) higher than this year's living wage of 10,540 KRW per hour. Converted to a monthly salary (based on 209 hours), it amounts to 2,250,094 KRW, which is 335,654 KRW more than the minimum wage.

Accordingly, workers employed by the district office and its invested and funded institutions (Facility Management Corporation, Cultural Foundation, Job Corporation), as well as those hired through national and city subsidy projects who receive the living wage, will receive 47,234 KRW more per month next year compared to this year.

The living wage system guarantees workers a wage level somewhat higher than the minimum wage by comprehensively considering housing costs, education expenses, and inflation rates to ensure a minimum dignified life. Geumcheon-gu enacted the living wage ordinance in October 2015 and has been implementing the living wage system since 2016.

Yu Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, "The living wage for next year was decided considering the difficult economic conditions caused by COVID-19," adding, "I hope this living wage will help improve the quality of life and stabilize the livelihood of Geumcheon-gu workers."

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is launching the ‘Youth Small Business Owners Happiness Sharing Lunchbox Support Project’ to compensate for the long-term sales decline of young small business owners due to COVID-19 and to support socially vulnerable groups at risk of food insecurity.

With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, social distancing has been extended, and consumer sentiment has weakened, increasing the burden on young small business owners. Additionally, welfare facilities supporting residents in blind spots have faced repeated difficulties, putting the social safety net at risk.

Accordingly, the district secured 100 million KRW through the second supplementary budget and will implement the 'Gwanak Youth Small Business Owners Happiness Sharing Lunchbox Support Project' starting in October.

This project selects five comprehensive welfare centers in the region (▲Gang Gam-chan Gwanak ▲Bongcheon ▲Jungang ▲Sillim ▲Seongmin Comprehensive Social Welfare Centers) as executing agencies to manufacture and supply lunchboxes from young small business owners and deliver them to socially vulnerable households in need of meal support.

Last year, the project was operated twice in the first and second halves of the year. In the first half, 30 companies were recruited to support 322 people, and in the second half, 28 companies were recruited to support 382 people, receiving great responses.

This year, 30 young small business owner companies will be recruited to support lunchboxes for about 300 households. It is expected to help increase sales for young small business owners and provide a meaningful opportunity to contribute to the local community through participation.

Participating young small business owners will be recruited by each comprehensive social welfare center until early October. Eligible businesses must be able to manufacture and supply single-person lunchboxes (including snacks and meal replacements), and the representative must be a youth aged 19 to 39.

The contract price is up to 8,000 KRW per meal, with an additional 3,000 KRW delivery fee supported separately. However, the delivery method must be coordinated with the respective comprehensive social welfare center. Young small business owners interested in participating can inquire at the jurisdictional comprehensive social welfare center or the Gwanak-gu Youth Policy Division.

Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) will operate a ‘visiting screening clinic’ at construction sites in the district from the 5th to the 8th.

With the recent continuous occurrence of confirmed foreign cases and the fact that many foreign workers are included among the construction site workforce, and considering the difficulty for on-site workers to check COVID-19 infection status during weekday working hours, the district decided to visit construction sites directly to provide COVID-19 testing.

The targets are four large-scale construction sites, including Seongsu-dong 1-ga 685-63 and two other parcels, with 558 on-site workers including 137 foreigners to be tested for COVID-19.

The district formed two teams consisting of medical staff such as doctors, nurses, clinical pathologists, and administrative personnel for rapid testing. A total of 14 personnel will be flexibly deployed according to the number of testees at each site, with concentrated testing scheduled from 2 PM.

Due to the active working environment, workers will be guided to strictly follow quarantine rules such as wearing masks even during breaks, and their health status, including alcohol consumption, will be checked before and after testing.

From October 1 to 17, the district will issue an administrative order requiring all workers at construction sites in Seongdong-gu (including office workers, daily workers, and subcontractor employees on-site) to undergo proactive COVID-19 testing, actively working to prevent infection.

As voluntary quarantine rules and proactive testing are emphasized, the district plans to continue identifying high-risk groups for cluster infections and ensure that after proactive testing of foreign workers at construction sites, vaccination is also carried out to actively block the spread of COVID-19 in the community.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “We have operated visiting screening clinics to encourage proactive testing among construction workers who frequently move between sites,” and added, “I hope everyone actively participates in proactive testing to help block the spread of COVID-19.”

Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) is creating and officially operating the open Mom’s Garden to support happy parenting for infants, toddlers, parents, and women.

The open Mom’s Garden provides a safe and pleasant play space for infants and toddlers, and a healing space that revitalizes daily life for parents and women tired from parenting. It attracts attention as a place where care, education, and cultural activities can be enjoyed together in one location.

Located on the 2nd floor of Inui Building in Singil 4-dong, the open Mom’s Garden is situated at a geographical hub where five nearby neighborhoods?Yeongdeungpo-bon-dong, Dorim-dong, Singil 1, 3, and 4-dong?converge, enhancing accessibility for residents. It is also adjacent to Daerim-dong, which has the highest foreign resident population in the area, expected to realize inclusive welfare embracing multicultural families.

The open Mom’s Garden is equipped with various facilities to allow knowledge, play, rest, culture, and arts to coexist, including ▲World Toy Library ▲Women’s Cultural Space ▲Children’s Library ▲Kids Lounge ▲Program Room ▲Nursing Room and Powder Room.

Especially, the World Toy Library is filled with unique toys that stimulate children’s innocence and imagination. Through toys and educational materials from different countries, children can experience the history, culture, and lifestyle of the world. The toys are also available for rental.

Additionally, programs such as foreign language storytelling and post-reading activities in English, Chinese, and other languages will be offered. These programs will help language development for infants and toddlers from general and multicultural families and naturally break down prejudices against multiculturalism through enjoyable stories.

Parents tired from childcare can recharge in the ‘Doran Doran Garden,’ a plant garden, or relieve stress by communicating with neighboring parents.

Moreover, diverse programs such as cultural classes in pottery and woodworking, parent lectures, and parent-child play classes are available to enjoy the joy of learning.

The open Mom’s Garden is intended for infants and toddlers under five years old, parents, and women residing in the area. Operating hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 9:30 AM to 5:30 PM (until 4 PM on Saturdays), closed on Mondays and public holidays.

Reservations can be made in advance through the Yeongdeungpo-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website, allowing parents and children to use the facility at their preferred times. The district will strictly follow quarantine rules to ensure residents can visit safely amid COVID-19.

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “In these tiring times due to COVID-19, I hope children and parents can enjoy joyful moments together at the open Mom’s Garden filled with fun and learning,” adding, “We will do our best to create a safe childcare environment so children grow up bright and healthy and parents can raise them happily.”

Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) will hold the ‘2021 3rd Dobong-gu Job Fair’ from October 11 to 29, linking online and offline events to support residents struggling to find jobs due to COVID-19.

Online pre-registration for job seekers is open from October 11 to 26, and on-site registration is also available at the Dobong-gu Job Plus Center (1st floor of the district office’s Civil Affairs and Passport Division). Recruitment of companies is open until October 15.

This year, a dedicated website for the Dobong-gu Job Fair has been created to allow easy registration of companies and enable job seekers to view job information from participating excellent companies at a glance and apply for jobs online.

Special lectures and side events are also prepared. Online, there is a special lecture on ‘NCS-based Customized Employment Strategies,’ and offline, a lecture on ‘Understanding Behavioral Types (DISC) to Catch Happiness and Jobs’ will be held. At the district office’s 1st-floor Citizen Hall, on-site interviews, VR experiences, and fingerprint aptitude tests will be conducted for document passers, along with other side events.

Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu, said, “This job fair was organized to allow many parts to be conducted online to help those who have difficulty finding job information due to COVID-19. I hope this fair becomes a cradle of local economy and jobs that benefits both employers and job seekers during these difficult times.”

Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) is hosting the 2021 Small Asteroid Project Contest targeting youth and university (graduate) students in the district.

With eight universities including Korea University located in the area, Seongbuk-gu is soliciting policy proposals to improve administrative services from this abundant youth human resource pool.

The Small Asteroid Project Contest is divided into planned topics and free topics.

The planned topics include ▲Policy ideas for safe and happy single-person household living and ▲Policy ideas for youth that Seongbuk-gu should promote. The free topic invites policy ideas in all areas affecting residents’ lives, such as education, welfare, culture, safety, transportation, and environment.

The submission deadline is October 24, and application forms can be downloaded from the Seongbuk-gu website in the form of a simple policy proposal.

Applicants can submit their proposals by email (pys876@sb.go.kr) or directly at the district office.

After the deadline, excellent proposals will be selected through public voting on Gwanghwamun 1st Street and internal review, followed by awards.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, “I hope many fresh policy ideas from youth will emerge so that Seongbuk-gu’s administration can become newer and more resident-friendly.”

Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 1st that it will open the ‘Seodaemun Kid Center’ this month, providing various parenting and childcare content online.

The center will include content produced by the Seodaemun-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center such as the Online Parent Academy, Happy Daddy Contest, Wise Home Parenting, and Parenting Expert Talk Shows.

It will also provide content for childcare teachers on topics such as child safety, disability awareness improvement, personal information protection, daycare financial accounting, and problem behavior early childhood education.

The ‘Seodaemun Kid Center’ will be freely accessible to residents and citizens living within the district.

The district plans to focus on parenting and childcare projects by dividing them into face-to-face and non-face-to-face services through the Seodaemun-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center (31 Moraenae-ro 15-gil) and the Seodaemun Kid Center.

Since last year, the district has provided 44 self-produced parenting contents through the Seodaemun-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website, receiving great responses.

In fact, the number of visitors to the center’s website (annual total) increased more than fivefold from about 970,000 in 2019 to about 5.21 million last year, ranking first in growth rate among Seoul’s 25 autonomous districts’ childcare comprehensive support centers. This year, it has recorded 4.55 million visitors up to August.

With this continued popularity, the district has been preparing to build an independent platform in the second half of this year to allow residents to access richer, high-quality parenting and childcare content smoothly without delays.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, “In the post-COVID-19 era, the Seodaemun Kid Center is expected to contribute to reducing parenting burdens for families with infants and toddlers and strengthening the capabilities of childcare institutions.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) will temporarily provide free food waste collection services for small restaurants in the district.

This is to support small business owners facing economic difficulties due to shortened business hours and decreased sales amid the prolonged COVID-19 social distancing measures.

The support targets about 5,000 small general and snack restaurants in the district, excluding large-scale waste producers. This is a temporary measure from October 1 to December 31, lasting three months.

Food waste should be disposed of in the existing dedicated food waste collection containers without attaching payment stickers from Sunday to Friday between 6 PM and 10 PM. Previously purchased payment stickers are non-refundable. The district cautions that improper disposal or failure to comply with disposal regulations may result in non-collection.

The district will actively promote this through individual text messages and distribution of promotional materials to the relevant businesses.

The fee reduction from this free food waste collection is estimated to reach a total of 280 million KRW.

To support this project, the district amended the ‘Nowon-gu Ordinance on the Reduction, Collection, Transport, and Recycling of Food Waste’ in September, establishing fee reduction regulations. With this legal basis, the district expects to provide smooth and prompt support related to food waste during future disaster situations.

Additionally, the district is promoting various support measures for small business owners struggling due to COVID-19, including ▲Employment Retention Subsidies ▲Nowon-gu Business Closure Support for Restricted Businesses ▲Seoul Economic Vitality Fund ▲Special Credit Loans for Small Business Owners.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “I hope this support will help small restaurants struggling due to COVID-19 even a little,” adding, “We will continue to actively discover various support measures for small business owners to revitalize the local economy.”