[Seoul District News] Gangnam-gu screens director Choi Gi-soon's live-action film capturing Korea's first wild tiger on outdoor billboards around COEX... Songpa-gu's 2022 New Year non-face-to-face event full of hope!... Geumcheon-gu social enterprise Egreen receives Minister of Health and Welfare Award for child meal support... Seongsu Sky Bridge~Seonyugyo section connecting Yanghwa Hangang Park and Seonyudo closed from 0:00 to 8:00 on January 1, 2022... Dongjak-gu maintains hiking trails in Kkachisan Neighborhood Park for a pleasant and safe park... Seongbuk-gu prays for Cheongsugol commercial district revitalization
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) will unveil a Baekdusan tiger video on outdoor electronic billboards around COEX in Samseong-dong for one month starting January 1, 2022, marking the Year of the Black Tiger (Im In Year, 壬寅年).
The video is the work of documentary director Choi Ki-soon, who was the first in Korea to film wild tigers. It captures the Baekdusan tiger roaming through the snow-covered forests of the Sikhote-Alin Mountains in Russia, vividly conveying its charisma and spirit.
Citizens can enjoy the video on various electronic billboards throughout the outdoor advertising free display zones, including COEX’s ‘Artium Outer Wall Media’ and ‘K-POP Plaza Media.’ In December 2021, a drone video showcasing Gangnam’s nightscape was also screened.
Gangnam-gu is producing and broadcasting ‘Gangnam Insiders Picks,’ which introduces Gangnam’s history, culture, and tourism. Following participation in ‘2021 MIPCOM,’ the world’s largest video content exhibition held in Cannes, France, last October, the district is currently participating in the online ‘Singapore ATF,’ negotiating content provision with companies worldwide.
Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “We planned this to wish everyone a vigorous new year overcoming COVID-19 in the Year of the Black Tiger,” adding, “In the 7th elected term, Gangnam-gu will continue to develop interesting and original content for outdoor electronic billboards to firmly establish the image of ‘Gangnam, a city attracting global attention.’”
Songpa-gu (District Mayor Park Seong-su) is preparing a rich non-face-to-face New Year’s event to offer comfort and hope to residents weary from COVID-19 in the Year of the Black Tiger, 2022.
Every year on January 1, the district has welcomed the first sunrise of the new year with residents at Mangwolbong, Mongchontoseong, Songpa-gu, signaling a hopeful start. Following last year, this year’s in-person event is canceled due to COVID-19, but to ease disappointment, the district prepared ▲art installations sharing hopeful messages at key locations ▲a New Year greeting video ▲and rice cake soup meal kits.
First, ‘New Year Hope Message Sharing Artworks’ were installed throughout the district so residents can pledge their New Year wishes and share hopes with each other. These can be found at four locations: under Gwangpyeonggyo Bridge on the Tancheon Trail of Songpa Dullegil, the entrance to Songpa Women’s Football Stadium on Seongnaecheon Trail, Mulbit Square, and Garak Mall. Anyone can freely write and appreciate New Year wishes using the installed art walls.
At the central stage of Seokchon Lake East Lake, a ‘2022 Decorated with Wish Papers’ sculpture is installed where visitors can hang their wish papers, and lamp post banners with New Year greetings and calligraphy welcome visitors around the Seokchon-dong ancient tomb cluster.
Additionally, light installations and signage are set up at the central stage of Seokchon Lake East Lake, Songpa Women’s Football Stadium, and Garak Mall, creating a hopeful atmosphere to start the new year. The installations and lighting will operate until January 15 next year.
The district also prepared a ‘New Year Hope Message Video from Songpa Dullegil’ to symbolize residents uniting to overcome COVID-19 and move forward vigorously. About 50 residents of various ages and backgrounds run or walk along Songpa Dullegil and traditional markets, sharing their New Year wishes. The video will be released on December 31 at noon on ‘Songpa TV’ YouTube channel.
Prior to this, on December 30, Mayor Park Seong-su prepared rice cake soup kits to encourage frontline workers for the New Year. The Buyeo Seo family (Chairman Seo Sang-man) donated 10 million won, and the Saemaul Women’s Association participated through talent donation. A total of 450 kits, consisting of rice cake soup rice cakes and beef bone broth, were produced and will be delivered on January 2 during the holiday to health center workers, Songpa Dullegil staff, sanitation workers, and others working for residents’ safety.
Mayor Park Seong-su said, “Although 2021 was a year when mask-wearing and social distancing became routine, Songpa-gu achieved meaningful progress thanks to residents’ high civic awareness and dedication,” adding, “Through the diverse New Year’s events, I promise that in the Year of the Black Tiger, all 670,000 Songpa residents will receive the tiger’s brave energy and be healthy and happy, and we will work harder to complete our projects.”
Geumcheon-gu (District Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) announced on the 29th that social enterprise Egreen (CEO Shin Jeong-hee) received the Minister of Health and Welfare Commendation for the ‘2021 Child Meal Support Project.’
The commendation for contributions to the child meal support project is awarded to individuals and organizations that have contributed to preventing child hunger and providing safe meals, addressing blind spots in meal support. This year, two organizations and 13 individuals received the award.
Established in 2010, Egreen has collaborated with local community centers since 2011 to deliver side dishes monthly to about 150 children at risk of hunger, providing safe food free of charge to children in welfare blind spots. It also practices community care through various public-private cooperation projects in the food sector.
CEO Shin Jeong-hee of Egreen expressed, “I want to carry out various public-private cooperation projects that support not only children at risk of hunger but also young adults and elderly generations in welfare blind spots.”
Yoo Sung-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “I sincerely congratulate Egreen on receiving the Ministry of Health and Welfare commendation for contributing to the child meal support project over the past 11 years,” adding, “The district will also do its best to ensure children in difficult circumstances grow up healthy.”
Yeongdeungpo-gu (District Mayor Chae Hyun-il) has canceled the ‘Year of the Black Tiger Sunrise Festival’ entirely and will completely restrict access to Seonyugyo Bridge, a popular sunrise spot, to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in the community and protect residents’ safety.
Every year on January 1, Yeongdeungpo-gu has held a ‘Sunrise Festival’ with over 900 residents around Seonyugyo Bridge and Yanghwa Hangang Park to welcome the new year. However, due to the ongoing spread of COVID-19 and strengthened quarantine measures for phased daily recovery, the 2022 Sunrise Festival has been fully canceled to actively block infection spread.
Accordingly, the section from Seongsu Sky Bridge to Seonyugyo Bridge connecting Yanghwa Hangang Park and Seonyudo will be completely closed from midnight to 8 a.m. on January 1, 2022.
The pedestrian overpass to Seonyudo, which connects Yangpyeong 2-dong and Yanghwa Hangang Park, will remain open for passage, but lingering for a long time to watch the sunrise on the overpass is prohibited.
Volunteer crime prevention and disaster prevention members from Yangpyeong 2-dong will assist in controlling access to Seonyugyo Bridge.
Control personnel will be concentrated in areas expected to attract many visitors to provide information about Seonyugyo Bridge restrictions and encourage social distancing.
A district official said, “To prevent the rapidly increasing spread of COVID-19, Seonyugyo Bridge will be controlled again on January 1,” urging, “Please refrain from traveling for sunrise viewing, minimize contact with neighbors, and cooperate with quarantine activities such as social distancing to protect your health and happiness.”
Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “It is very regrettable to cancel the Seonyugyo Sunrise Festival, which we have welcomed the new year with residents watching the sunrise every year, but we prioritized residents’ safety and quarantine and are controlling the crowd,” adding, “We will do our utmost to stop the spread of COVID-19 quickly and create a safe and hopeful 2022.”
Dongjak-gu (District Mayor Lee Chang-woo) announced on the 31st that it has completed renovations of the hiking trail on Ggachisan Mountain to help residents enjoy safe and healthy leisure activities.
This project was promoted to create a pleasant and convenient hiking trail by collecting opinions from local residents due to ongoing inconvenience caused by aging facilities on Ggachisan Mountain.
The target area is Ggachisan Neighborhood Park, specifically around 32-126 Sadang-dong Mountain. From November, over about two months, approximately 700 meters of the hiking trail from Solbat-ro ecological passage to the Ggachisan Park management office (guard post) was renovated.
The renovation includes ▲installation of deck stairs ▲wooden railings and handrails ▲retaining walls on eroded soil areas along the trail ▲wooden fences ▲coconut fiber mats ▲tree planting, among others.
The district expects the renovation to prevent hiking accidents and provide a comfortable walking environment, increasing satisfaction among local residents using the trail.
Kim Won-sik, Director of the Parks and Greenery Division, said, “Through this renovation of aging facilities, more residents can safely use the hiking trail in Ggachisan Neighborhood Park,” adding, “We will continue to promote various green projects for residents’ health and healing to make Dongjak a desirable place to live.”
As part of the Sadang 4-dong urban regeneration seed project, the district is also promoting the creation of a ‘Historical and Cultural Trail’ extending the Ggachisan Park hiking trail to the ‘Lee Jeong-yeong Tomb,’ a Seoul-designated cultural property, aiming for completion in the second half of next year.
The trail will be 1.5 to 2 meters wide and 250 meters long, with installation of ▲wooden decks ▲fences ▲traditional-style lighting. It will connect to the new Hanok caf?, scheduled for completion in the first half of 2023, completing the Sadang 4-dong Ggachisan hiking trail route: ‘Ggachisan Park → Lee Jeong-yeong Tomb → New Hanok Caf?.’
Seongbuk-gu (District Mayor Lee Seung-ro) held a lighting ceremony on the 29th at the ‘Cheongsugol Light Street’ in Jeongneung 4-dong to pray for the revitalization of the Cheongsugol commercial district.
This lighting ceremony was realized through active cooperation from the Cheongsugol Merchants Association and residents to provide various attractions to local residents during the year-end and New Year period and to revive the local commercial district, which has been depressed due to COVID-19.
The ‘Cheongsugol Light Street,’ created along the retaining wall section from the entrance of Hyundai Apartment to Gaedong Church, is a local specialized project aimed at revitalizing the depressed alley commercial district. It features diverse lighting and stylish design, creating a bright and romantic atmosphere. Some uninstalled sections will be completed soon.
In addition to Light Street, various facilities reflecting local characteristics, such as photo zones, design guide panels, and guiding lights, will be additionally installed around Cheongsugol Bogukmun-ro by January.
A district official said, “We hope that the creation of Light Street will comfort citizens who have had a difficult time due to COVID-19 since last year and that the additional local specialized projects will bring vitality back to the depressed Cheongsugol commercial district.”
Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Seo Yang-ho) announced on the 31st that it signed a business agreement to open the parking lot within the Samsung Cyber Village apartment complex in Jungnim-dong to the public as part of measures to promote shared parking to alleviate parking difficulties in the city center.
The Samsung Cyber Village apartment parking lot has a total of 890 parking spaces, with 746 registered vehicles of residents, leaving about 150 spaces available. Among these, 100 spaces in the underground 2nd floor P-2 zone were decided to be opened 24 hours to the public with the consent of the majority of residents. The fee is 80,000 KRW per month per space (excluding VAT), and parking income will be used for community activation, resident autonomy activity promotion costs, and joint management fees.
Parking lots, which are shared auxiliary facilities of apartment residents, were originally prohibited from being used for profit purposes. However, since the revision of the Enforcement Decree of the Apartment Management Act in August 2017, apartment parking lots can be opened to outsiders for a fee. This is only allowed if an agreement is made between the local government and the residents’ representative council, and the local government or local public corporation operates and manages the facility. The number and location of open parking spaces, opening hours, and other necessary matters are decided by the residents’ representative council according to the apartment management regulations, and the decision requires the consent of the majority of all residents.
The agreement ceremony was held on the 30th at the Samsung Cyber Village apartment residents’ representative meeting room, attended by Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, and apartment residents’ representatives.
The district is also accelerating efforts to expand parking facilities by sharing and opening private parking lots, such as opening 70 spaces at the Freedom Federation’s affiliated parking lot to residents in October, to solve chronic urban parking problems.
Seo Yang-ho, Mayor of Jung-gu, said, “Building one parking space in the city center costs about 300 million KRW. Opening apartment parking lots to outsiders is expected to alleviate urban parking difficulties and improve the efficiency of apartment management,” expressing gratitude to the residents of Samsung Cyber Village apartment.
◆Jung-gu Personnel
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