[Seoul District News] Publication and Distribution of 500 Copies of Itaewon Global Village Festival White Paper: Exploring 20 Years of Achievements and Development Directions; Congratulations Messages from 16 Embassies, Official Documents, Photos, Media Coverage, and Programs Included... Jungnang-gu to Develop Public Parking Lot and Living Culture Center on Hyewon Girls' High School Parking Lot Site... Eunpyeong-gu Holds 'Public Officials Integrity Pledge Ceremony'... Seocho-type Shared Daycare Center Expands Specialized Programs for Preschool Classes... Gwanak-gu Secures Total External Funding of 155 Billion KRW Including 2021 Public Contest Projects... Dongdaemun-gu Awarded Best Education Support
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) has published a white paper summarizing the achievements of the Itaewon Global Village Festival, held since 2002.
The title is "20 Years of Records of the Itaewon Global Village Festival."
The white paper, produced in A4 size with 327 pages, sequentially contains ▲the mayor's foreword, congratulatory messages from the president of the Itaewon Tourism Special Zone Association ▲congratulatory messages from embassies of 16 countries ▲20 years of history ▲official festival data by year ▲photos and press articles ▲festival programs.
Held every October in the Itaewon Tourism Special Zone area, the "Itaewon Global Village Festival" is an event where visitors can experience diverse cultures from around the world. It originated from the "Seoul Olympic Citizen Participation Itaewon Festival" held ahead of the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Subsequently, in 1997, an area of 11,5946 pyeong (approximately 382,000 square meters) along a 1.4 km road between Itaewon Entrance and Hannam 2-dong Office was designated as a tourism special zone.
In 2002, the site of the current Yongsan-gu Comprehensive Administrative Town, known as the "Arirang Taxi Site," was purchased to set up a large stage. The "Itaewon Tourism Special Zone World Cup Festival" was held, marking the beginning of the current "Itaewon Global Village Festival." The "Itaewon Tourism Special Zone Association," organized by merchants in the special zone, was established as a corporation in May 2002. It was organized as a private organization that could partner with the district office to promote the event.
In 2009, when the H1N1 flu was prevalent, the festival was replaced by a "Banner Festival," which created an atmosphere by hanging promotional banners on about 170 street lamps.
In 2014, the number of participants reached 731,200, and the festival was reborn as a "representative festival of Seoul." Since then, the number of participants has exceeded one million annually, and in 2019, the festival ranked 8th in the festival brand reputation index (Korea Corporate Reputation Research Institute), ranking 1st among Seoul city festivals.
Chairman Maeng Ki-hoon of the Itaewon Tourism Special Zone Association said in a congratulatory message, "Unfortunately, the festival could not be held for two years due to COVID-19. Until the day we overcome COVID-19, we will unite under the slogan 'Clean Itaewon' and hold the festival in 2022 to regain our previous reputation."
The district canceled the Itaewon Global Village Festival in the fall of 2020 and 2021 to focus on COVID-19 quarantine efforts.
Yongsan-gu Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, "A valuable resource has been completed that can create a more exciting festival on Itaewon Street. The white paper, which records the light and shadow of the festival held for 20 years, will be a precious guide for everyone planning the festival."
The district distributed 500 copies of the white paper to embassies in the area, Seoul city, other autonomous districts, and sister cities.
Jungnang-gu (District Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi) signed an agreement on the 12th with Hye-won Academy Foundation (Chairman Hong Min-pyo) for the "Construction Project of Life SOC Complex Using the Parking Lot Site of Hye-won Girls' High School."
Through this agreement, Hye-won Academy Foundation will provide the parking lot site of Hye-won Girls' High School (around 519 Mangwoo 3-dong), and Jungnang-gu will be responsible for the construction, management, and operation of the complex facility. The district will create a public parking lot to alleviate parking difficulties in the Mangwoo-dong area and a life culture center for residents' cultural enjoyment.
The complex facility will be built from basement level 1 to ground level 2, with a total floor area of 7,320㎡ for the public parking lot and 855㎡ for the life culture center. By utilizing the existing school parking lot site, the land cost of 9.4 billion KRW was saved, and the project will receive 3.3 billion KRW in national funds and 4.2 billion KRW in city funds, with a total project cost of 29.4 billion KRW.
The Mangwoo 3-dong area, where the site is located, is a residential area with a shortage of parking spaces compared to demand, resulting in many parking-related complaints. The district expects to alleviate parking difficulties experienced by residents by creating 215 parking spaces in the public parking lot.
Additionally, a life culture center, a leisure and resting space for local residents, will be created to expand opportunities for various cultural and leisure activities.
Starting with this agreement, the district plans to complete the design competition and selection of the complex facility this year and complete the facility by 2024.
Jungnang-gu Mayor Ryu Gyeong-gi said, "I sincerely thank Hye-won Academy Foundation for actively participating by providing the existing parking lot site of Hye-won Girls' High School free of charge for local residents. I hope this complex facility will resolve parking difficulties and enhance residents' life satisfaction as a cultural space."
Eunpyeong-gu (District Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) held the "2022 Public Officials Integrity Practice Pledge Ceremony" on the 10th, attended by the district mayor and senior officials.
At the ceremony, Eunpyeong-gu public officials pledged to practice integrity to create a clean public service society. They committed to comply with laws and principles in performing their duties and to take the lead in establishing a strict public service discipline and a culture of transparent communication.
Going forward, the district plans to promote departmental integrity practice pledges for all employees to vigorously pursue change and reform. The district aims to actively engage all employees so that improving integrity becomes an immediate task.
District Mayor Kim Mi-kyung said, "Integrity is a precious matter that protects myself, my colleagues, and further, the entire Eunpyeong-gu. I hope this year will be one where all employees communicate with integrity, led by directors, department heads, and dong chiefs."
"I just wanted to introduce fun and diverse educational programs to our local residents, but I am very grateful to receive such a big award."
This is the acceptance speech of Jeong Ji-hoon, a staff member of the Education Support Division in Dongdaemun-gu (District Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol), who was named the "Second Half of the Year Press King."
On the morning of the 13th, the district awarded prize money and the district mayor's commendation to the departments and employees selected as the "2021 Second Half Press King (Outstanding Departments and Employees)."
The district selected the Press King based on the contribution to district promotion through active discovery of press releases.
A district official said, "We promoted the selection of the Press King to encourage employees to write press releases and motivate them so that residents can timely utilize useful district information through press releases."
Based on press releases submitted by each department and dong, the evaluation considered ▲press release submission records ▲employee participation ▲actual media coverage. The selected departments and dongs were ▲Best Education Support Division ▲Excellent Welfare Policy Division ▲Excellent Jeonnong 2-dong Resident Center, and the individual Press King was ▲Jeong Ji-hoon from the Education Support Division.
The "Press King" selection received great interest from Dongdaemun-gu employees and contributed to a 21% increase in the number of press releases registered compared to the same period last year.
The district plans to continue expanding the Press King selection this year to encourage more employees to take an active interest and participate in district promotion.
Dongdaemun-gu Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol said, "We selected the 'Press King' to motivate and encourage employees to actively register press releases. We will strive to promote useful district news not only through press releases that quickly inform about the district's administration and news but also through various media so that residents can receive more benefits."
Last year, Seocho-type Shared Daycare Centers, benchmarked by Seoul city and expanded throughout Seoul, will evolve again this year.
Seocho-gu announced that it will support the "Smart Play + Learning Specialized Childcare Program" to respond to changes in childcare demand and strengthen the capabilities of the preschool class (ages 3 to 5).
Introduced nationwide for the first time in 2019, the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Centers link 3 to 6 nearby daycare centers, including public, private, and home daycare centers, into one community to reduce waiting lists and solve the imbalance in childcare supply and demand, thereby improving childcare quality. Currently, 126 centers in 26 zones participate, and 80% of all daycare centers in Seocho-gu operate as shared daycare centers.
First, the district plans to create a play environment within daycare centers that can be jointly used by shared daycare centers and nearby daycare centers, providing a suitable and safe space for preschool children who increase physical activities and autonomous exploration.
Along with this, if daycare centers conduct age-appropriate smart play activities, woodworking, kid gardening, and other specialized activities for young children, the district will support teaching materials, tools, and instructor fees. It is expected that specialized activities such as smart block play and coding-related play, which attract high parental interest and children's enthusiasm, will be carried out more actively by reducing parents' financial burden.
Also, the district will continue to expand the project to reduce the number of children per teacher this year. Since 2019, the district has lowered the teacher-to-child ratio in the 0-year-old class from 1:3 to 1:2 and has been significantly reducing the ratio in the 3-year-old class from 1:15 to 1:10 since last year.
To this end, the district will continue to expand support for assistant teachers in daycare centers. The support scale increased from 44 in 2021 to 72 this year. Thirty are for 0-year-old classes, 22 for 3-year-old classes, and 20 for directors who do not concurrently serve as teachers in centers with fewer than 20 children.
The district expects that improving the teacher-to-child ratio will reduce teachers' childcare stress and increase interaction between teachers and children, leading to more detailed early childhood education.
Additionally, the district will expand the operation of "Preschool-Only Daycare Centers" from the existing two to four centers. Among the Seocho-type Shared Daycare Centers grouped into 3 to 6 centers, one center operates as a "Preschool-Only Daycare Center" caring only for children aged 3 to 5, while the remaining centers expand infant classes with long waiting lists to accommodate as many infants as possible, improving the childcare environment.
Preschool-Only Daycare Centers operate specialized childcare programs tailored to the characteristics of children aged 3, 4, and 5, and parental satisfaction was high last year.
Acting Seocho-gu Mayor Cheon Jeong-wook said, "The Seocho-type Shared Daycare Centers, which started in Seocho and expanded to Seoul city, will continue to provide various programs tailored to children's perspectives this year to make Seocho a great place to raise children."
Gwanak-gu (District Mayor Park Jun-hee) achieved a remarkable feat by securing 155 billion KRW in external funds from the government, Seoul city, and public institutions in 2021 to create momentum for regional development.
The district reorganized its organization in August 2018, establishing the "External Policy Team" responsible for overseeing public contest projects and external evaluations, focusing administrative efforts on securing external funds.
To systematically manage the progress of each project, the district holds annual public contest and external evaluation progress meetings and operates employee capacity-building training throughout the year, producing a public contest project guidebook to enable all departments to actively respond to public contests and external evaluations.
As a result, from July 2018 to 2021, the district secured a total of 785.4 billion KRW in external funds, including 337 public contest projects, filling funding gaps and actively promoting projects.
In particular, in 2021, despite the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the district attracted projects in areas such as revitalizing local commercial districts, job creation, and customized housing welfare, including Seoul-type New Deal jobs, financial support for social enterprises, and demand-tailored purchase rental housing projects. It was selected for 109 public contest projects, securing approximately 51.4 billion KRW in project funds, including a public cable maintenance project for urban environment improvement.
The district also received 58 awards in government and Seoul city evaluations over the past year, including the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award at the Korea Small Business Conference, six consecutive awards for excellence in rapid local finance execution, and the grand prize at the 2021 Korea Urban Regeneration Industry Expo.
A district official said, "Despite the great crisis of COVID-19, thanks to the dedicated efforts and passion of our employees, we were able to achieve brilliant results. We will continue to focus on various public contest projects and external evaluations to secure necessary funds to improve residents' quality of life and enhance Gwanak-gu's status."
Geumcheon-gu (District Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon) announced that it will hold an online direct transaction market from the 17th to the 25th to help sister city farmers struggling due to decreased consumption and meal service suspension caused by COVID-19.
At this online direct transaction market, residents can purchase 42 items of agricultural and marine specialty products from Geumcheon-gu's sister cities?Namhae-gun in Gyeongnam, Goheung-gun in Jeonnam, Cheongyang-gun in Chungnam, and Hoengseong-gun in Gangwon?such as dried anchovies, anchovy fish sauce, citron, pomegranate, goji berries, and deodeok, at prices 10-20% cheaper than market prices.
Information on products and prices by sister city can be found on the district office website under "Geumcheon News" or in promotional materials available at each dong resident center.
Residents wishing to purchase can order by phone or email to the Regional Economy Division and transfer the purchase amount to the designated account. Products will be shipped sequentially from January 18.
Geumcheon-gu installed a sample product display stand in the first-floor lobby of the district office so residents can check the specialty products of sister cities.
Geumcheon-gu Mayor Yoo Seong-hoon said, "Due to COVID-19 prevention, the sister city agricultural and marine specialty product direct transaction market, which was held in the district office square during holidays, will be operated online. We ask for the interest and participation of residents to support sister city farmers struggling to find sales channels due to COVID-19."
Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) is holding a "Seol (Lunar New Year) Online Direct Transaction Market" to help sister city farmers open sales channels and is accepting pre-orders until the 18th.
Gangnam-gu has held the "Holiday Direct Transaction Market" annually in the district office parking lot, but since the Chuseok holiday two years ago, it has been conducted online to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Instead of visiting hometowns, people send gifts, and reflecting the trend of preferring non-face-to-face consumption, the online market will be held again this Seol.
Buyers can purchase excellent agricultural and livestock products from Gangnam-gu's sister cities, including Gwangju-si and Paju-si in Gyeonggi, Sangju-si and Yeongju-si in Yeongnam, and Suncheon-si and Boseong-gun in Honam, at affordable prices. Product lists are available on the Gangnam-gu website and in leaflets at 22 dong resident centers. Orders can be placed by phone to the district's Regional Economy Division or the relevant dong resident center. Producers will ship directly to buyers' addresses, with shipments starting sequentially from the 24th. Card payment is available for purchases over 100,000 KRW.
Gangnam-gu Mayor Jung Soon-gyun said, "Using the online direct transaction market allows residents to protect safety while helping local farmers and purchasing quality specialty products at affordable prices. We hope many residents participate with the spirit of coexistence, sharing, and respect of 'Mimiwi Gangnam.'"
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