[Interview] Yuseonghun, Geumcheon District Mayor, "All-Out Effort to Leap Beyond Crisis into a Cutting-Edge Gateway City"

Protecting Residents' Lives and Safety Closely, Focusing on Reviving the Economy, Actively Implementing Policies and Striving for Sustainable Development

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “The direction of Gu administration for the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Black Tiger is to overcome COVID-19, restore precious daily life, achieve integration where men and women, young and old, workers and entrepreneurs all grow and develop together, and leap beyond the old image of Seoul’s outskirts to become a gateway city of Seoul.”

Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, explained this direction of the Gu administration in an interview with Asia Economy, stating, “We will protect the lives and safety of residents closest to their daily lives, focus on revitalizing the economy, and work hard to realize policies actively for sustainable development.”

He also pledged to make every effort to fully restore normal life, saying, “We actively expanded the budget to overcome unprecedented difficulties such as safety and the economy caused by COVID-19.”

During the 7th elected term, the major long-awaited project of the district, the ‘Shinansan Line,’ is undergoing full-scale facility construction this year, aiming for completion in 2024, and the ‘Large General Hospital Construction’ project is scheduled to begin construction in the first half of this year after an environmental impact assessment.

In addition, the Air Force base, which was an obstacle to the development of the district center, has reached a consensus with the Ministry of National Defense on relocation, paving the way for full-scale development.

Geumcheon-gu plans to promote various policies in 2022, the final year of the 7th elected term, to make it a ‘Year of Recovery,’ ‘Year of Integration,’ and ‘Year of Leap.’

First, to help residents gain strength in their daily lives and restore the life they enjoy in Geumcheon, education and cultural projects will be intensively promoted.

By operating the Geumcheon Career and Academic Support Center, many students will be able to design their dreams and futures, and an educational system to nurture future talents will be established through the Geumcheon Science Cube and other Geumcheon-type science platforms. The Youth Culture House, a base space, will allow young people to freely nurture their dreams, and healing spaces will be expanded by maintaining natural parks such as the ‘Forest Library’ to help residents find leisure in life.

Also, Geumcheon-type Welfare 2.0 will be promoted to closely care for vulnerable groups in welfare blind spots so that all classes, including children, youth, women, the elderly, the disabled, and foreigners, are not left out.

Furthermore, the area around Geumcheon-gu Office Station will be developed to expand spaces for residents, and the low-rise residential complex area will be intensively managed through balanced east-west development.

In addition, based on the 2040 Geumcheon Urban Comprehensive Management Plan, a blueprint for Geumcheon’s development, continuous implementation of the urban comprehensive management plan such as ‘realizing a self-sufficient city with proximity of residence and workplace,’ ‘building a well-connected transportation infrastructure,’ and ‘realizing a cultural welfare neighborhood within 10 minutes’ will be pursued to make Geumcheon a happy and livable city and the top city for residents’ happiness.

Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “The year 2022 will be a year to regain daily life, recover the economy, and reduce disparities,” adding, “We will do our best to shed the old image of a satellite city and leap forward as a cutting-edge gateway city.”