[Seoul Autonomous District News] Yuseonghun, Geumcheon-gu Mayor, Active as Chair of Seoul Region Representative South-North Peace Cooperation Local Government Council... Yangcheon 50 Plus Center Operates ‘Confident 50+ Career Clinic’... Guro-gu Runs After-School Learning Support and Counseling for Grades 7-9... Yongsan-gu Hosts Online Photo Contest ‘End of Winter, Beginning of Spring’... Yeongdeungpo-gu Offers Free Family Garden Plots of About 6㎡ Each on 2400㎡ Public Land in Mullae-dong... Seodaemun-gu Conducts Independent Publishing Creator Training Program
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yuseong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, was elected as vice chairman at the 2nd regular general meeting of the Local Government Council for Inter-Korean Peace and Cooperation held on the 16th.
The Local Government Council for Inter-Korean Peace and Cooperation is an administrative consultative body formed to revitalize inter-Korean exchange and cooperation projects led by local governments. Since its launch in May 2021, 61 local governments from regions including Seoul, Busan, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Chungnam have participated.
This general meeting was conducted with some chairpersons attending on-site at Anyang City Hall due to the COVID-19 situation, while members participated via video conference. They discussed the 2022 business plan, revenue and expenditure budget, and council regulations.
The council plans to promote practical training for inter-Korean exchanges, cooperation projects for daily life with North Korea, and forums on the implementation of inter-Korean agreements through continuous consultation and solidarity among local governments.
After being elected vice chairman, Yuseong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “I will do my best to ensure that the Local Government Council for Inter-Korean Peace and Cooperation plays a leading role in restoring trust and strengthening exchange and cooperation between the two Koreas.” He added, “I sincerely hope that 2022, the Year of the Black Tiger, will be a year in which peace is established on the Korean Peninsula.”
Yangcheon-gu (Mayor Kim Soo-young) announced that it will operate the ‘Confident 50+ Career Transition Clinic,’ a career-type job project for middle-aged and older adults to support reemployment, starting in March in collaboration with the Yangcheon 50 Plus Center.
The career-type job project for the middle-aged and older adults provides social service jobs needed by the local community to retired professionals and supports their transition to private sector jobs.
The Yangcheon 50 Plus Center (hereinafter ‘the Center’) hires middle-aged and older adults with at least three years of experience and a vocational counselor certificate as counseling experts, providing career-type jobs. Through them, the Center offers the ‘Confident 50+ Career Transition Clinic’ service to users who wish to change careers, thereby establishing a virtuous cycle that connects to local community jobs.
The ‘Confident 50+ Career Transition Clinic’ has professional vocational counselors on-site who conduct one-on-one life career assessments and provide customized guidelines necessary for career transitions to about 400 middle-aged and older users of the Center. Counselors and users (job seekers and those wishing to change careers) of the same age group form a rich consensus on the second act of life through consulting.
Additionally, the Center plans to provide its own employment education, employment linkage programs from the Yangcheon-gu Job Plus Center, and employment information from both public and private sectors.
Any middle-aged and older adult interested in career transition and reemployment can participate in the ‘Confident 50+ Career Transition Clinic’ by phone or visiting the Yangcheon 50 Plus Center.
Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, said, “The ‘Confident 50+ Career Transition Clinic’ is expected to have a dual effect by making good use of the professional careers of the middle-aged and older adults and helping another group of middle-aged and older adults in the region to take a leap forward.” He added, “We hope many people interested in this project, which allows them to reflect on their life careers and receive practical employment advice and information, will participate.”
Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) will operate an after-school learning support program.
On the 18th, Guro-gu announced, “To improve the academic level of middle school students and reduce educational disparities, supplementary classes in English and mathematics have been prepared in an online format.”
The program, consisting of a 16-week course from March 7 to June 24, will be conducted as interactive classes through a video conferencing platform.
The target students are first to third graders in local middle schools, with a capacity of 12 students per subject, totaling 72 students. Classes for first graders are held twice a week with a tuition fee of 60,000 KRW, while classes for second and third graders are held three times a week with a tuition fee of 80,000 KRW.
Students wishing to apply can register as members on the Guro Learning Support Center website and apply from the 21st to March 3. Applications will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis.
Guro-gu also operates a ‘Self-directed Learning Counseling Room’ within the Guro Learning Support Center to help students develop study habits independently.
Professor Shin Dong-cheon, a full-time professor at the Korea KPCA Psychological Counseling Guidance Association, provides personalized study methods through one-on-one counseling with students.
Middle and high school students residing in Guro-gu or attending middle and high schools in the area can make reservations by phone at the Guro Learning Support Center.
Counseling is available from Tuesday to Friday between 5 p.m. and 10 p.m., and on Saturdays from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Students can make reservations during available times and receive counseling for up to one hour per session, totaling 6 to 8 sessions.
A Guro-gu official said, “We hope this program will reduce private education expenses and help students academically,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to provide various programs using both online and offline methods.”
Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Chang-hyun) is launching the ‘Each One’s Yongsan’ online photo contest, planned to actively reflect residents’ fresh and new perspectives in promoting district administration.
The contest theme is ‘At the End of Winter, the Beginning of Spring.’ Participants can freely capture places, people, and objects in Yongsan that convey the last moments of winter and the beginning of spring.
Anyone, regardless of age or gender, can participate by following the district’s Instagram account, posting photos with the hashtag ‘#EachOnesYongsanWinterAndSpring.’ The submission period is from February 20 to March 13.
An official said, “We simplified the application process so that non-professionals can easily participate and set the prize money at a modest amount,” adding, “Online photo contests will be held consecutively in May, August, and November, so we hope for much interest.”
The district will announce the winners on March 21 after internal screening. Prizes will be awarded to 20 winners including 1 grand prize, 3 excellence awards, 6 encouragement awards, and 10 honorable mentions, with mobile gift certificates ranging from 10,000 to 100,000 KRW. The scale of awards may vary depending on the number of entries.
Winning works will be publicly displayed through the district’s official SNS (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter), digital bulletin boards, and media boards. They will also be used as basic materials for promotional images and videos of district administration.
Seong Chang-hyun, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “Due to COVID-19, gatherings have decreased and people have stayed indoors longer, increasing residents’ feelings of depression. We believe that participating in this contest, which captures the changing seasons and the ever-changing moments of Yongsan, will help restore vitality in daily life.”
Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) is recruiting 300 urban farmers to cultivate vegetable gardens on public land in Mullae-dong.
The vegetable garden is located on 2,400㎡ of public land in Mullae-dong (55-6, Mullae-dong 3-ga), where the 2nd Sejong Cultural Center is planned to be built. It is close to Mullae Station on Line 2, offering excellent accessibility, and provides a space in the heart of the city where residents can grow and harvest healthy food and experience nature.
A total of 300 households will be selected, each allocated about 6㎡ of garden space. The garden will operate from April 1 to November 30 for eight months. From April to September, it is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and from October to November, from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Farming tools such as hoes, shovels, and watering cans are available free of charge, and convenience facilities like restrooms and gazebos are provided.
Any Yeongdeungpo-gu resident can apply. The application period is from February 21 to March 6. One household member must apply as the representative, and duplicate applications within a household are not allowed.
Residents wishing to participate can apply through the ‘Integrated Reservation’ on the Yeongdeungpo-gu website. Those who have difficulty applying online can visit the Job Economy Division office with their ID for registration.
To ensure fairness, winners will be selected through a random computerized draw on March 7 in the presence of a resident representative. Results will be announced on the Yeongdeungpo-gu website the next day and winners will be notified via text message.
Details on user compliance and other information can be found on the Yeongdeungpo-gu website’s notice board.
Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, said, “The Mullae-dong urban vegetable garden is a precious resting place for residents to experience nature directly in the concrete-filled city center,” adding, “We will do our best to create an eco-friendly city where nature and people coexist.”
Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) is organizing ‘Writing Workshop: Ways of Words’ to nurture independent publishing creators and is recruiting participants from the 18th to March 18.
This workshop targets 20 prospective creators interested in cultural and artistic writing who want to write works that resonate with others.
The workshop will be held every Thursday from 7 to 9 p.m. for six weeks from March 24 to April 28 at ‘Sinchon, Parang Whale’ (19, Yonsero 5na-gil). The instructor is Lee Hwa-young, who lectures on ‘Art and Humanities’ and ‘Art and Writing’ at the Korea National University of Arts.
The curriculum includes writing with facts and imagination, strategies for expressing emotions in writing, reader-tailored writing, understanding topics and themes, collecting and analyzing writing materials, and drawing concepts and flowcharts.
The district supports small group activities where participants can voluntarily engage in shared interests such as watching short films and writing reviews, short lectures on specific writings, analyzing articles, critiques, essays, and sharing writings with each other.
Those wishing to participate in the ‘Writing Workshop’ can download the application form from the ‘Sinchon, Parang Whale’ website, fill it out, and send it via email. Participants will be selected through expert review, and online interviews may be conducted if necessary.
Participants who complete the course will receive certificates of completion, and outstanding participants will be given opportunities for independent publishing.
Separately, on March 17 from 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m., a special lecture titled ‘Writing Literacy: The Beginning of the Writing Journey’ will be held at ‘Sinchon, Parang Whale.’
Lecturers Lee Hwa-young, novelist Han Yoo-joo, and translator Yoon Byung-eon will speak on topics including ▲The act of writing: creation and translation ▲The tool called language I have ▲Rich understanding of the original work, followed by a general discussion and Q&A session. Anyone can participate through prior registration.
An official said, “This program will provide opportunities to share various forms of expression and stories through tasks such as reading together, thinking, discussing, researching, and on-site program operation.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
