[Seoul District News] From Dec 23 to Jan 22, the 1st Yangcheon Bichenara Festival, a lighting exhibition festival, held at Yangcheon Park, offering a warm winter garden with festive lights for residents... Park Seong-su, Songpa District Mayor, vows to make Songpa the world's largest school... Mapo District opens 'Tourist Attraction VR Exhibition Hall' for smart travel in the contactless era... Geumcheon District expands 'Safe Accommodation' for families of home-treated patients... Gwanak District holds 'Record Nangok' village record exhibition... Jungnang District, activities of 132 youths
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) will hold the "1st Yangcheon BicheNara Festival (YBNF)" from the 23rd to January 22nd next year, where visitors can enjoy a winter garden illuminated with lights at Yangcheon Park for one month.
Yangcheon-gu planned a lighting exhibition festival to brighten the dark winter nights of Yangcheon Park during the year-end and New Year holidays. A 6-meter-high large tree will be installed around the Baby Zone in front of the Book Rest Area, a space beloved by residents among the park facilities, offering a fairy-tale-like night to visitors through Milky Way lights, LED rabbits, string lights, and more.
In particular, about 3,000 bulbs on string lights hung between trees along the 650m outer trail surrounding the park will create a spectacular Milky Way of light. Residents visiting Yangcheon Park during the festival period will be able to enjoy a warm and romantic winter night walk.
The lighting ceremony on the opening day, the 23rd, will feature a congratulatory performance by Kim Soon-young's tap band starting at 5:30 PM. Following this, at 6 PM, the Christmas tree lighting will mark the opening of the "1st Yangcheon BicheNara Festival," bringing dreams and hope.
The district prepared the YBNF light festival for the first time this year as a winter-themed event in the park. It plans to brand it as Yangcheon-gu's representative winter garden light festival by holding it annually in popular parks such as Paris Park and Anyangcheon.
For more details about the "1st Yangcheon BicheNara Festival," contact the Park and Greenery Division of the district office or visit the Yangcheon-gu website.
Yangcheon-gu Mayor Kim Soo-young said, "I hope residents who had a harder year than ever due to COVID-19 will spend the year-end and New Year holidays with healing and happiness through the 1st Yangcheon BicheNara Festival," adding, "We will continue to discover and promote seasonal theme festivals in parks to create a garden city where culture flows."
Songpa-gu Mayor Park Sung-soo met with residents on the 20th at the live policy talk concert "MY Songpa Teacher" (hereafter Policy Talk Concert) to share the achievements of Songpa Teacher and explore future directions together.
Mayor Park said, "The 'Songpa Teacher (SSEM·Songpa Smart Education Model),' the first future-oriented educational autonomy model by a local government, is an educational platform that consolidates scattered human and material educational infrastructure and systems within the region," adding, "Through Songpa Teacher, we will provide dreams and hope to children and leisure and happiness to adults, making Songpa-gu the 'largest school in the world.'"
According to the district, since Songpa Teacher started in 2019, about 200,000 residents have used it, and 68 educational institutions have educated students through Songpa Teacher programs.
This policy talk concert was held to share the achievements of Songpa Teacher and residents' thoughts based on their direct participation and experience, and to ask and answer questions about future plans.
Especially, due to COVID-19, it was conducted in a hybrid format combining online and offline. It was broadcast live in a "1+3 online-offline" dual live streaming method, connecting the "Songpa Teacher Head Center" site with the "Instrument Library," "Future Education Center 10 halls," and the "Songpa Teacher Education Portal" video education system in real time.
Through this, about 70 participants including human libraries, resident instructors, students, homeschooling mentors and mentees engaged in vivid conversations as if they were in the same place.
First, in response to human library instructor Lee Eun-jung's request, "The human library classes visiting educational institutions are well received. Please activate more local talents to participate as human libraries," Mayor Park replied, "We will further develop the human library to help residents with self-development and eventually connect to job opportunities."
Next, when Kim Mi-young, an instructor at the Songpa Teacher Head Center, requested support for the "Visiting Future Education Center," Mayor Park promised, "From November this year to July next year, it will be conducted for 21 schools in the region, and the support scope will be expanded to welfare facilities and community centers next year."
Also, in response to a request from an Instrument Library user hoping for expanded education in music creation and composition, Mayor Park said, "Nowadays, it is an era of producing rather than just consuming music and culture. We will develop various programs such as music creation and composition so that residents can experience them."
The district plans to actively reflect the voices of residents gathered on this day in the future operation of the Songpa Teacher education platform.
Songpa-gu Mayor Park Sung-soo said, "The core purpose of Songpa Teacher is to create an educational environment where any resident can learn what they want," adding, "Excellent resources in the district are connected through one platform called Songpa Teacher, creating a 'virtuous cycle of education' that provides learning opportunities to residents."
He also said, "We will continue to consider educational tools and content in line with the new era we face and strengthen the educational safety net to reduce educational gaps," adding, "We will lead new educational trends of the new era through Songpa Teacher."
Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) opened the "Mapo-gu Tourist Attractions VR Exhibition Hall" on the Mapo-gu Office website on the 20th.
This VR exhibition hall can be accessed anytime and anywhere for free with just a PC or mobile device, which is welcome news for tourists hesitant to travel due to COVID-19.
The VR exhibition hall features 35 representative tourist attractions of Mapo-gu divided into four categories: Healing, Cultural History, Youth, and Challenge, realized through 294 VR contents.
Healing spots include 15 locations such as the "Gyeongui Line Forest Park," also known as Yeontral Park, and "Sky Park," famous for its silver grass. Cultural history spots include nine locations such as "St. Nicholas Cathedral," the only Byzantine-style church building in Korea, and "Culture Depot," a former oil storage site transformed into a cultural space.
Youth spots include nine locations such as "Hongdae Walking Street," a playground for young people, and "Mangridan-gil," a popular SNS hot place. Challenge spots include the "Seoul Mountain Culture Experience Center" and the "World Cup Stadium."
Access is available by visiting the Mapo-gu Office website under 'Culture & Tourism > Culture & Tourism > Tourist Attractions VR Exhibition Hall' or through the homepage link.
The VR content allows 360-degree rotation and zooming, enabling visitors to tour major tourist sites in Mapo-gu with immersive videos.
Additionally, linked information through Naver can be checked, expected to receive great response from prospective tourists and travel industry planning Mapo-gu tourism products.
The district plans to continuously discover tourist attractions, update VR content, and enhance service functions to improve tourist satisfaction.
Mapo-gu Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said, "The VR exhibition hall will serve as a communication window where the tourism industry can closely interact with tourists," adding, "We will do our best to revitalize tourism by establishing policies that can invigorate the tourism industry struggling due to COVID-19."
Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Sun-gap) will hold the "Gwangjin-gu Online Youth Festival BangBangGoodGood Festival" from the 17th to the 22nd.
This festival was proposed and planned directly by youth belonging to the "Gwangjin-gu Youth Network" and will be held non-face-to-face due to the COVID-19 situation.
The "Gwangjin-gu Youth Network" was established to expand youth communication and participation, consisting of up to 40 youths aged 19 to 34 residing or active in Gwangjin-gu, and will operate for two years.
The festival name "BangBangGoodGood" combines "Bangbanggokgok," meaning "everywhere without exception," and Gwangjin-gu's BI "Good," expressing the will to create a festival where all youths in Gwangjin-gu can participate together.
The program consists of the BangBangGoodGood Startup Expo, BangBangGoodGood Concert, and BangBangGoodGood Talk Show.
The BangBangGoodGood Startup Expo is conducted by posting startup story videos of "Majungmul," a network of youth (prospective) entrepreneurs in Gwangjin-gu, on the online festival homepage.
The BangBangGoodGood Concert and Talk Show were held on the 18th at Jayang Station and the online event venue, broadcast live on YouTube.
The concert featured youth artists active in Gwangjin-gu such as Junyu, Hong Young-gu Band, Sungjun, and Between 2nd and 3rd Floors, performing original songs. The talk show shared the one-year achievements of the Gwangjin-gu Youth Network and explored development directions through a lecture by the Seoul Youth Policy Cooperation Officer.
Gwangjin-gu Mayor Kim Sun-gap said, "I hope this online festival will be a precious opportunity to spotlight the diverse talents of shining youths and to communicate together."
Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Sung-soo) announced on the 21st that it conducted the "SongSongPapa Charity Live (TinyThings X Songpa-gu Home Daycare Association)" on the Naver Live Shopping channel on the 18th to donate all sales proceeds to the 2022 Songpa-gu Hope Ondol Warm Winter campaign to support vulnerable groups in the region.
The district planned the charity live shopping with the Songpa-gu Home Daycare Association to comfort vulnerable groups in the region during the cold winter and to create a more expansive sharing platform amid the difficulties of COVID-19.
The "SongSongPapa Charity Live" was held for about an hour from 10 AM on the 18th via Naver Live Shopping. Approximately 2,200 viewers joined the live broadcast, selling "SongSongPapa Lucky Bags" composed only of donated items, earning about 6 million KRW in proceeds.
The "SongSongPapa Lucky Bag" included essential childcare items such as beanie hats, children's masks, piggy banks, scarf bibs, and bibs, sold in limited quantities. During the live broadcast, surprise gifts like body pillows, infant bedding, and anti-lost necklaces were given to buyers who participated in donations, adding meaning to the support.
All sales proceeds from this event will be donated to the 2022 Songpa-gu Hope Ondol Warm Winter campaign in January to be used for vulnerable groups in the region.
The Songpa-gu Home Daycare Association has also practiced sharing by running a charity shared market with the Songpa-gu Women's Childcare Division for three years from 2017, donating proceeds to the Community Chest of Korea by selling donated baby products at low prices to neighbors in need, leading the spread of a sharing culture.
Songpa-gu Mayor Park Sung-soo said, "This SongSongPapa charity live shopping event is very meaningful as it leads to sharing for neighbors in need in the community," adding, "It will greatly help comfort the tired minds and bodies of low-income residents struggling due to COVID-19. We will continue to strive to improve the welfare of Songpa residents to repay the warm hearts of those who participated in the donation."
Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) announced that it will operate safe accommodations for families of COVID-19 home treatment patients until December next year.
This follows the government's policy of prioritizing home treatment to resolve the shortage of COVID-19 hospital beds. Geumcheon-gu signed agreements with two local hotels (Mind Tourism Hotel and SI Hostel) to prevent secondary infections by allowing families of home treatment patients to maintain daily life.
With this agreement, not only families of overseas entrants and domestic self-quarantined residents who were existing users but also families of vaccinated home treatment patients can use the safe accommodations.
The available rooms are 54 at Mind Tourism Hotel and 60 at SI Hostel. The accommodation fee is discounted by 50% supported by Geumcheon-gu, and the remaining 50% is paid by users, ranging from a minimum of 29,000 KRW to a maximum of 50,000 KRW per night depending on the room.
Residents using the safe accommodations must pay the full fee and apply for the subsidy (50% of the fee) by submitting application documents to the Culture and Sports Division of the district office via visit, email (ham0211@seoul.go.kr), or fax.
Details on the required documents for subsidy application can be found in the "Geumcheon News" section of the Geumcheon-gu website.
Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon said, "We thank the hotels for participating to prevent secondary infections among families of home treatment patients," adding, "The district will do its best to minimize community spread through efficient management of COVID-19 confirmed patients, including home treatment patients."
Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) is holding the "Record Nangok" village record exhibition, documenting the urban regeneration of Nangok and Nanhyang, until the 24th.
The exhibition was originally scheduled for five days from the 16th to the 20th but was extended to the 24th due to enthusiastic response from residents.
It is held at two exhibition halls in the Nangok-ro 24-gil area, currently undergoing urban regeneration New Deal projects, where anyone interested can participate and view the achievements from the preparation stage to the present and the results of resident participation programs.
Exhibition Hall 1 features photos, records, and oral histories of the Nangok and Nanhyang urban regeneration hope area project over the past five years, showing not only the changes in the villages through urban regeneration but also residents' visions for Nangok and Nanhyang.
It includes diverse contents recording the "Time of Nangok," such as urban regeneration achievements, promoting the Nangok brand, operating a Nangok photo zone, screening urban regeneration videos, and guided tours with docents explaining Nangok urban regeneration.
Exhibition Hall 2 is a hands-on exhibition space with a 3D modeling table representing Nangok-dong, operating an exhibition program expressing Nangok.
Here, residents can participate directly by operating a wish tree "To Nangok Next Year," which contains their urban regeneration wishes, and a Nangok village snow globe workshop commemorating the year-end to reminisce about themselves and their neighborhood.
The event limits entry to 15 people at a time to prevent COVID-19 spread and strictly follows social distancing and quarantine rules.
A district official said, "Through this village exhibition sharing urban regeneration achievements, we expect to increase resident participation in urban regeneration projects, share residents' impressions who participated in the projects, and raise local residents' understanding and interest in urban regeneration."
Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) will provide meals to children under 18 who do not receive school meals during the winter vacation and lack proper care at home.
The target includes children from basic livelihood security and near-poverty households at risk of food insecurity, households with income below 52% of the median income, and children under protection according to the Single-Parent Family Support Act.
Even if income exceeds the criteria, support is provided after recommendation by homeroom teachers, community leaders, or officials and review by the Seodaemun-gu Child Meal Committee if there is a risk of food insecurity due to family breakdown or prolonged COVID-19.
During the vacation, the meal (Dream Tree) card of the target children will be charged with an amount corresponding to 1 to 2 meals per day (7,000 KRW per meal) depending on the family situation, which can be used at affiliated general restaurants and convenience stores. Alternatively, they can choose to receive lunchboxes delivered once a week.
Children who received meal support during this summer vacation will be supported without separate application.
New applications can be made online via the "Bokjiro" site or at the local community center before the vacation ends. Families, neighbors, or related persons of children needing meal support can apply on their behalf.
The district also provided meal coupons worth 30,000 KRW per child to 599 Dream Tree card users at the end of this year, following Children's Day, allowing safe use through online ordering and contactless payment instead of dining out.
Seodaemun-gu Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, "Food insecurity risk is higher during vacations, so we will be more thorough to ensure children and youth do not skip meals."
For more details about child meal support, contact the Child and Youth Division of Seodaemun-gu Office.
Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) will hold an exhibition sharing the activity records of youths who participated in the 2021 Youth Activity Support Project. The exhibition will be held near Mangwoo Station and Sangbong Station on the Gyeongui-Jungang Line until December 26th.
The exhibition was prepared to share the challenges and results of youths participating in the Youth Activity Support Project. At Mangwoo Station, visitors can view activity photos, and at the nearby space lessness (302 Mangwoo-ro, 4th floor), activity videos can be viewed on a media wall. Additionally, visitors can experience music, paintings, and photo zones created by youths, appreciating their activities in a multi-dimensional way.
The Jungnang-gu Youth Activity Support Project targets youths aged 19 to 34 residing or active in the region, supporting various challenges and providing broad experiences. A total of 37 teams and 132 youths were selected through a public recruitment in May.
The selected youths received activity funds from June to November for six months to freely execute their planned projects, including "Youth Era," where they carry out projects; "Youth Reporters," who cover youth-related news; "Youth Creators," expressing ideas and individuality through videos; and "Youth Entrepreneurs," who challenge startups based on business ideas and produce prototypes.
Jungnang-gu Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi said, "I sincerely support youths who have continued to pursue their self-planned projects despite many restrictions due to COVID-19," adding, "We will actively support local youths to continue innovative and creative challenges."
Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hoon) held the "2021 Gangdong-gu Youth Policy Governance Results Sharing Meeting" on the 17th.
This meeting was organized to share the activities of youths participating in the youth policy governance projects conducted by the district this year (including operating the Gangdong Youth Network, holding the 2021 Gangdong Youth Festival, and the Youth Enterprise Co-growth Project), celebrate achievements, and communicate.
The event was held offline at the caf? space in the Gangdong-gu Office's second building and was live-streamed on the Gangdong Youth Network (Gangcheongnet) YouTube channel, allowing many youths who could not attend in person due to COVID-19 to participate online.
The event included sharing the progress of youth policy governance projects, activity details by project, exhibition of project results, 2021 keywords and hope comments, 100-second PR by youth enterprises, and various programs for empathy and communication with youths.
A youth participating online said, "I enjoyed a fun year-end party with peers by experiencing the venue with the host and communicating through real-time comments."
Gangdong-gu Mayor Lee Jung-hoon said, "Thank you to youths who actively participated in youth policies promoted by the district this year," adding, "We will continue to provide opportunities for communication and empathy for youths suffering from deep depression due to ongoing COVID-19."
The event video can be rewatched on the Gangdong Youth Network (Gangcheongnet) YouTube channel.
Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) installed a "Happy Photo Zone" in the lobby of the department responsible for marriage registration and other services at the district office, receiving great response from residents visiting the civil service office.
The district decided to install the photo zone after seeing visitors taking commemorative photos in front of the civil service office after marriage or birth registration at the district office. The "Happy Photo Zone" is available to anyone regardless of address and offers selfie stick rental and instant camera photo services to create memories.
A district official explained, "The 'Happy Photo Zone,' set against the backdrop of Seongbuk-gu Fortress with bright azaleas blooming in spring, offers small comfort and happiness to residents exhausted by COVID-19 and supports newlyweds' new beginnings and celebrates precious new life."
A (31-year-old) who completed marriage registration at Seongbuk-gu Office on the 17th said, "There were many regrets about holding a wedding during the COVID-19 spread, but the district office prepared such a beautiful photo zone and provided instant photos as well as phone photos, making me happy and thankful."
A district official said, "The 'Happy Photo Zone' will be a special gift for couples commemorating a new start and celebrate precious births for new parents, creating happy and joyful memories," adding, "We will continue to discover and provide various administrative services that resonate with residents."
Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Roh Hyun-song) announced that it will issue the "e-Seoul Love Gift Certificate (Gangseo-gu)" worth 1.779 billion KRW starting at noon on the 22nd to revitalize the local economy stagnated by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The e-Seoul Love Gift Certificate was prepared to increase sales of small business owners who are pioneering new distribution channels through online or delivery due to decreased offline sales.
The e-Seoul Love Gift Certificate is an online-only gift certificate usable on the "11st Small Business Seoul Love Gift Certificate Online Market" and 11 delivery service apps of the Zero Delivery Union, including Payco Order, Romarket, Public Delivery, and Wemakeprice O. Notably, this e-gift certificate can be used throughout Seoul regardless of region.
The gift certificates can be purchased at a 5% discount until the issuance amount is exhausted. Individuals can purchase up to 300,000 KRW per month, with a holding limit of 2 million KRW. A 10% payback (up to 20,000 KRW per month, first-come-first-served) is also provided. The usage period is five years from the purchase date.
Purchases can be made via 21 mobile apps including Beeple Zero Pay, Moneytree, Check Pay, fint, PAYCO, Fink, T-money Pay, and Nonghyup All One Bank.
Unused gift certificates can be fully refunded if canceled within seven days of purchase. If more than 60% of the face value is used, the remaining balance excluding the discount subsidy will be refunded.
A district official said, "The e-Seoul Love Gift Certificate will be good news for residents who were disappointed not to use gift certificates on online and delivery apps," adding, "We hope it will help small business owners and residents struggling through a difficult year-end due to COVID-19."
Dongjak-gu (Mayor Lee Chang-woo) announced that it enacted and promulgated the "Dongjak-gu Single-Person Household Support Ordinance" on December 9th to expand the safety net for socially isolated and disconnected single-person households and contribute to building a socially inclusive family city.
According to statistics released by Statistics Korea on the 8th, as of last year, single-person households numbered 6,643,000, accounting for 31.7% of all households, with Dongjak-gu's single-person household rate at 38.2%, exceeding the average.
Accordingly, the ordinance was enacted to establish a basis for policy formulation and systematic project implementation to improve the quality of life in health, housing, safety, and other areas for the continuously increasing single-person households.
Specifically, the ordinance includes provisions for establishing a basic plan for single-person household support every five years, conducting surveys for policy formulation and implementation, promoting support projects such as care services, emergency response, and crime prevention, and installing and operating facilities to promote social friendliness for single-person households.
In the future, a survey reflecting characteristics by age, gender, and region will be conducted to establish a basic plan, followed by measures to proactively respond to changing social environments, including housing support, community support, and cultural and leisure support projects.
The district currently operates various and effective single-person household support projects by target (youth, women, middle-aged, elderly, disabled) and field (housing, jobs, safety, welfare), including customized public housing supply, elderly job and social activity support, single-person household safety door keepers, safety item support for women living alone, operation of single-person household support centers, and night patrol services for severely disabled persons.
Additionally, efforts are made to prevent solitary deaths among single-person households through measures such as the "Smart Care Plug" using IoT technology, the non-face-to-face check-in platform "Seoul Salpimi App," neighborhood care teams, care networks for elderly living alone, and neighbor watchers.
Park Mi-young, Director of Welfare Policy Division, said, "The district is implementing many projects to improve welfare and establish a stable living foundation for single-person households," adding, "With the enactment of this support ordinance, we will do our best to provide thorough support without blind spots so that single-person households can live together without worries in Dongjak-gu."
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