Advanced Industry Startup New Hub 'Jungnang Startup Platform' Officially Launched

[Seoul District News] Jungnang-gu Selects 26 Promising Resident Companies from December Recruitment; Move-in Completion Expected by Next Month with Systematic Growth Support Including Space, Education, and Investment... Guro-gu Startup Support Center Participant Recruitment... Gangbuk-gu Youth Challenge Project Contest... Yeongdeungpo Youth Architecture School Recruiting Students for Home Repair and Interior Construction Course... Songpa Book Museum Conducts Winter Vacation Career Exploration Class for Elementary Students 'How a Book Comes to Be'... Nowon-gu Toy Library Free Delivery Service

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) has finalized the selection of 26 resident companies for the Jungnang Startup Platform, which will serve as a hub for the Jungnang Startup Support Center, and will actively nurture promising startup companies.

Located on the 6th floor of the Sinnae 3 District Knowledge Industry Center 2 (111 Sinnae-yeok-ro, Jungnang-gu, Sinnae SK V1 Center), the Jungnang Startup Platform (nickname) will act as a catalyst for the main Jungnang Startup Support Center (195-1 Sinnae-dong), which is scheduled to be additionally constructed on the opposite site in 2025.

Following last month's recruitment of resident companies, about 90 startup companies from across Seoul, including Jungnang-gu, applied for residency. The district evaluated the entrepreneurs' capabilities and growth potential from multiple perspectives and selected 26 promising resident companies in the field of 4th industrial revolution new technologies. Move-in is expected to be completed by next month.

The Jungnang Startup Platform goes beyond merely providing space for startups and supports systematic and comprehensive growth through various educational programs and investment support for startup growth.

To establish such a professional system, the district signed a business agreement at the end of last December with Sungkyunkwan University Graduate School of Global Entrepreneurship and Kingo Spring.

First, to foster the growth of resident companies, startup and business growth programs and non-degree courses will be operated, providing customized one-on-one mentoring and consulting for each company. Additionally, to support funding for early-stage startups, the district will directly establish the Jungnang Startup Support Fund to invest directly in promising companies and support linkage with various startup support programs and public contest selections.

Furthermore, to help growth companies develop sales channels, various regular events such as investment briefings and demo days for company promotion and investment attraction will be held. An industry-academia-research-government collaboration system will also be established to expand the startup ecosystem network.

Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi of Jungnang-gu said, “The Jungnang Startup Platform, together with the future Jungnang Startup Support Center, will play a major role in the Sinnae IC advanced industrial cluster creation project,” adding, “We will do our best to continuously revitalize the startup ecosystem to contribute not only to job creation but also to regional economic development.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) is recruiting participants for the Startup Support Center.

On the 17th, Guro-gu announced, “To help residents preparing for startups with excellent and original startup ideas, we are accepting applications for participation in the Startup Support Center in collaboration with the Korea Venture Business Association.”

The recruitment target is prospective entrepreneurs aged 19 or older or early-stage startups within three years. Priority will be given to residents of Guro-gu and entrepreneurs with business locations in Guro-gu.

The recruitment fields include new technology startups, information and communication, knowledge content, publishing and design, marketing and promotion, app development, games, cultural services, and more.

Thirty selected participants will receive an educational program consisting of basic (February to April) and advanced (May to June) courses, as well as office space equipped with office furniture and meeting rooms.

Those wishing to participate can apply via Google Forms by the 28th and then submit the application form and business summary by email. For detailed information on application methods and lecture schedules, refer to the news section on the district office website.

Guro-gu plans to notify successful applicants individually on March 18 after document and interview screening.

Since 2012, Guro-gu has been operating the Youth Startup Support Center on the 8th floor of Mario Tower (28 Digital-ro 30-gil) in the Guro Digital Complex.

By 2021, Guro-gu selected 512 teams and operated programs such as startup education, mentoring, and networking. Among them, 375 companies succeeded in starting their businesses.

A Guro-gu official said, “We hope you realize your startup dreams through the Startup Support Center,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to prepare various support measures that can promote startups and increase startup success rates.”

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Park Kyum-soo) is conducting the ‘2022 Gangbuk Youth Challenge Project’ public contest and is recruiting participants until February 8.

The ‘Youth Challenge Project’ is promoted to provide young people with opportunities to realize various ideas, activate youth’s self-directed social participation, and offer opportunities for skill development and self-improvement. The district has allocated a total of 45 million KRW for this contest, supporting up to 9 million KRW per selected project.

The contest themes are ▲projects actively utilizing online methods in response to the COVID-19 situation ▲projects discovering local youth culture and revitalizing healthy youth communities ▲projects aimed at improving women’s safety, welfare, and culture ▲and other innovative ideas to solve various local public tasks and youth issues.

Applicants must be groups or organizations of three or more youths aged 19 to 39 (as of the announcement date) residing or active in Gangbuk-gu. Interested participants should submit the application form and required documents via email (hunaya@gangbuk.go.kr). The deadline is 6 p.m. on February 8.

Application forms can be found on the Gangbuk-gu Office website (Our District Introduction → Notice Board → Public Notices or News). For more details, contact the Gangbuk-gu Office Job and Economy Division.

Last year, through the Youth Challenge Project, Gangbuk-gu selected and supported eight projects including the online youth policy information content ‘Gangbuk Essence,’ ‘Gangbuk Bridge’ connecting youth in Gangbuk, the trash photo exhibition ‘Moro Haji,’ introduction of Gangbuk-gu youth artists ‘Life is a Boiled Egg,’ and the environmental mate ‘Plastic Runner’ of plastic runners.

Mayor Park Kyum-soo of Gangbuk-gu said, “Supporting young people with the courage to challenge is the starting point for strengthening youth capabilities,” adding, “We will actively support so that diverse and innovative ideas of youth can bear the intended fruits. We look forward to the active interest and participation of young people.”

Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) and Yeongdeungpo Youth Architecture School are operating a ‘Home Repair and Interior Construction Skills Course’ that teaches overall construction skills such as wallpapering, tiling, carpentry, and electrical work to local youth who wish to enter or start a career in architecture. They are recruiting prospective youth architects to participate in the training until February 6.

This training course is part of the ‘2022 Our Neighborhood Housing Improvement Management Company Model Establishment Project’ and aims to establish a self-reliance foundation for youth with architectural skills through city-district cooperative job creation projects. It also helps graduates form social economy organizations or participate as cooperative members, creating a virtuous cycle housing environment improvement model.

The training will accept a total of 10 participants. Any unemployed youth aged 18 to 39 residing in Seoul can apply.

The course will comprehensively cover knowledge and construction skills related to home repair, from basic theory and diagnosis to customized practical training on-site.

To provide more systematic and customized education, the course is divided into basic and advanced levels: ▲The basic class teaches home repair theory, tool usage, and basic construction skills such as wallpapering, flooring, tiling, and fixture installation; ▲The advanced class forms teams to visit vulnerable households for hands-on home repair practice, continuing professional construction training as prospective architects.

The training runs from March 2 to May 24, and the tuition is completely free. Interested youth can download the application form from the Yeongdeungpo Youth Architecture School website and submit it by email (ydpysa@naver.com) by February 6.

Last year, youth who completed the same course established the ‘Ttukttak Repair Cooperative,’ a neighborhood housing management company, realizing their dreams.

This year, various trainings including home repair construction skills, eco-friendly, and home care technology education will be operated to fully support youth to become professional architects.

For detailed schedules and recruitment information, refer to the Yeongdeungpo Youth Architecture School website or contact the Yeongdeungpo-gu Office Social Economy Division or Yeongdeungpo Youth Architecture School.

Mayor Chae Hyun-il of Yeongdeungpo-gu said, “I hope this training course provides an opportunity to thoroughly acquire basic architectural theory and professional home repair construction skills,” adding, “We will prepare various youth support policies so that our youth can continue their dreams as professional architectural technicians and grow as key players leading regional development.”

The ‘Songpa Book Museum’ is conducting a non-face-to-face career exploration lecture titled ‘How a Book Comes to Be’ for elementary school students during winter vacation.

‘How a Book Comes to Be’ is an educational program that uses the first million-seller domestic original fairy tale ‘The Hen Who Dreamed She Could Fly’ (written by Hwang Sun-mi, published by Sagyejeol) to experience various publishing-related occupations such as author, editor, and book designer, and to build cultural literacy about book culture.

The program targets elementary school children from grades 1 to 6 and their guardians, dividing them into lower and upper grades classes. Two 80-minute real-time online sessions will be held from January 19 to 28.

Mayor Park Sung-soo said, “I hope this will be a good learning opportunity for elementary students whose cultural and artistic experiential learning has been limited due to COVID-19,” adding, “The Songpa Book Museum is a pride of Songpa-gu. We will strive to develop it further as an open complex cultural space where children and youth’s dreams grow and residents enjoy high-quality book culture.”

The Songpa Book Museum operates various cultural and artistic programs for all residents. On January 19, it will hold a ‘Book Culture Lecture’ by poet Na Tae-ju and regularly operate a ‘Book Specialist Docent’ training course for residents.

On the 2nd floor exhibition hall, a special exhibition titled ‘The Golden Age of Magazines’ is held until August 31. It displays over 150 items including magazines and videos that offer a glimpse into modern Korean history, such as Korea’s first modern comprehensive magazine ‘Sonyeon,’ ‘Poetry Literature’ which marked the start of pure modern poetry, and the popular weekly magazine ‘Sunday Seoul.’

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) has published ‘2022 Changes Like This,’ containing useful information on newly implemented policies and systems for the new year of the Im-in (壬寅) year, and posted it on the district office website.

Every year at the beginning of the year, the district produces and publishes a leaflet compiling newly changed systems to resolve residents’ questions and provide practical information.

The ‘2022 Changes Like This’ includes 28 carefully selected new Dongdaemun-gu administrative information and government policies in five areas: ▲health and welfare ▲education and culture ▲economy and environment ▲transportation and safety ▲general administration, designed in an easy-to-view size.

Key contents this year include ▲implementation of the Dreamdong-i Korean Medicine Health Management Project for vulnerable children ▲expansion of the ‘Enrollment Preparation Fund’ support, previously given to middle and high school students, to elementary school students ▲implementation of employment qualification acquisition activity expense support for unemployed youth aged 19 to 34 residing in Dongdaemun-gu ▲reorganization of the Dongdaemun-gu Data Platform to lay the foundation for data-driven administration through local store and market analysis and data visualization.

Other support measures for caregivers raising children include the implementation of the First Meeting Voucher worth about 2 million KRW for all newborns in the area, infant allowance payments, and expansion of the child allowance support age.

Detailed contents of ‘2022 Changes Like This’ are posted on the district website and available at the district office’s general civil service office and community service centers, making it easily accessible to all Dongdaemun-gu residents.

Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol of Dongdaemun-gu said, “‘2022 Changes Like This’ presents major newly changed policies and systems in areas of high resident interest such as health, education, and transportation in an easy-to-understand way for anyone to see at a glance,” adding, “This year, we will promote various policies to improve residents’ quality of life and do our best to ensure no resident misses out on benefits through policy promotion.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) is launching the ‘Visiting Toy Library, Toy Boongboong’ service, which delivers desired toys to homes, starting from the 17th.

Since 2008, the district has operated the Toy Library (called Noriatti) to reduce the burden of toy purchase costs for families with infants and toddlers and to promote a sharing culture. Currently, four Noriatti branches lend over 3,500 items including books, toys, and childcare products suitable for infants’ developmental stages.

This delivery service was prepared to assist families who find it difficult to visit Noriatti in person to borrow toys, especially to support play activities for families with infants and toddlers spending more time at home due to COVID-19.

The delivery service will start a pilot operation from the 17th for regular members of Noriatti and will begin full operation in March. Each regular member can use free delivery up to five times a year, and at each Noriatti branch (Sanggye, Sanggye 2nd, Wolgye, Gongneung), up to two toys can be borrowed for 14 days per use.

To prevent delivery accidents, all deliveries and collections are conducted by dedicated delivery personnel hired by the Nowon-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center. The district is also considering expanding the number of uses based on pilot operation results.

Applying for the delivery service is simple. On the Nowon-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website, select a branch, search for the desired toy, and set the delivery reservation date. Applications for the following week’s rentals can be made every Wednesday at 10 a.m., and if the delivery reservation is not full, applications can be made up to one day before the rental date.

Delivery hours are weekdays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. For returns, the return visit date is automatically set two weeks later, but returns can also be made by visiting the branch if desired.

Noriatti is available to any Nowon-gu resident with children under five years old. To become a member, one must sign up on the Nowon-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website, then visit Noriatti with the guardian’s ID and a resident registration certificate issued within the last three months, and pay an annual fee of 15,000 KRW.

Currently, the district operates four Noriatti locations: ▲Sanggye Branch (3rd floor of Sanggye 3,4-dong Community Service Center) ▲Sanggye 2nd Branch (basement 1 of Nowon Central Library) ▲Wolgye Branch (3rd floor of Wolgye Healthcare Center) ▲Gongneung Branch (4th floor of Gongneung Health Center). Detailed usage information can be found on the Nowon-gu Childcare Comprehensive Support Center website.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “The toy delivery service is not only about improving accessibility but also about helping children play safely with various toys and grow,” adding, “We will continue to carefully address the inconveniences and difficulties faced by families raising infants and toddlers during the COVID-19 era and implement tailored policies.”