[Seoul District News] Nowon-gu Opens ‘Nowon Youth Work and Life Center’ on 22nd as Mentor for Youth Work-Life Balance, Providing 3-Month Work Experience with Monthly 400,000 KRW Stipend... ‘Youth Agit,’ a Complex Cultural Facility for Youth Including Meetings, Exhibitions, and Performances, Opens on 30th to Serve as a Cultural Hub for Youth Network and Community Activation... Dongjak-gu Recruits New ‘2022 Dongjak Youth Creators (Video Content Creators)’... Mapo-gu Calls for Members of Mapo Innovation Education District Youth Committee... Gwang
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that the youth facilities ‘Nowon Youth Work-Life Center’ and ‘Youth Agit’ that comprehensively support youth’s work, life, and cultural activities will open consecutively.
First, the ‘Nowon Youth Work-Life Center,’ which focuses on supporting youth’s job experience and skill enhancement to aid their social advancement, will open on the 22nd.
According to the Statistics Korea’s Economically Active Population Survey, as of December last year, the youth unemployment population in Nowon-gu is estimated to be around 9,000. Unemployment leads to social isolation and depression, which are major factors threatening the lives of young people.
Accordingly, the Youth Work-Life Center will provide job experience support and practical work training for unemployed youth, as well as capacity-building programs and career coaching for youth vulnerable to employment.
Along with this, specialized projects supporting the formation of networks and communities among single-person youth households and socialization of reclusive youth will be conducted simultaneously, aiming to help local young people confidently take their first steps into society.
The center is located at 74, Dongil-ro 192-gil, Nowon-gu, between Seoul National University of Science and Technology and Gongneung Station on Subway Line 7. This area is close to one-room apartments near the university area and single-person youth households, and is adjacent to the Gyeongchun Line Forest Trail, which is becoming a landmark known as ‘Gongridan-gil’ and ‘Gongtrel Park’ among local youth.
The center’s key ‘job experience support project’ connects unemployed youth with workplaces in the region. Youth participating in job experience will receive a monthly job experience allowance of 400,000 KRW, allowing them to gain work experience for a total of three months based on 46 hours per month per person.
The center is equipped with offices, training rooms, a shared kitchen, and a terrace, creating a space where young people can comfortably interact and dream about their future.
Following this, on the 30th, the youth vitality space ‘Youth Agit’ will open. Youth Agit is located in the basement level 1 of Gongneung Happy Housing at 20, Gongneung-ro 51-gil, at the heart of ‘Gongtrel Park.’ Youth Agit is designed with cultural spaces such as a performance stage, rest and communication areas, exhibition spaces, and a media art exhibition room. It is expected to become another hot place in Gongneung-dong where young people with free-spirited talents and energy interact.
The cultural space can host small performances such as singing, dance, and theater, and also hold film screenings. The exhibition space is a place to display and exchange works by youth shops, workshops, and youth enterprises. The media art exhibition room is designed as an immersive media art experience space and photo zone using digital technology, adding a unique character to the free youth cultural facility.
These two facilities, opening in neighboring spaces at one-week intervals, provide the services most needed and desired by young people and support the local youth. Although the area is mainly known as an apartment-dense area and bedroom town, the district is also a youth-dense area with seven universities gathered within the region.
In particular, within a 2 km radius of Gongtrel Park, where the two facilities open, there are four universities: Seoul National University of Science and Technology, Seoul Women’s University, Kwangwoon University, and Induk University.
Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “We felt that policies for the youth were insufficient compared to their proportion and role in the local community, so we are preparing various facilities and programs,” adding, “We will spare no effort to support local youth so that they can confidently enjoy their personal lives and prepare for the future in a free atmosphere.”
Dongjak-gu (District Mayor Lee Chang-woo) is recruiting new participants for the ‘2022 Dongjak Youth Creators (Video Content Creators)’ program, enabling youth to create video content capturing various aspects of their neighborhood and communicate in the on-tact era.
This contest aims to provide high-quality content produced from the youth’s perspective about district news and to enhance communication effectiveness on Dongjak-gu Office’s YouTube channel.
Youth residing or active in Dongjak-gu who can produce video content are eligible to participate. A total of five teams will be recruited (2 teams for YouTube videos, 3 teams for Shorts).
The activity period for youth creators is from April to July this year, during which they will produce four pieces of content monthly according to themes for posting on Dongjak-gu Office’s YouTube channel.
The district supports youth creators with activity fees and expert mentoring services for monthly content production and plans to select and award two outstanding creator teams upon completion of activities.
Youth wishing to participate can download the application form from the ‘Notices & Announcements’ section on Dongjak-gu Office’s website and submit it along with a portfolio (mp4 file under 2 minutes) via email to the recruitment officer.
Applications are accepted until the 31st, and the selection results will be individually notified and posted on the district’s SNS on April 5. The youth creators’ launch ceremony is scheduled for 2 p.m. on April 8.
Last year, Dongjak-gu Office’s YouTube channel planned ‘Tomorrow’s PR King,’ capturing voices from the field with District Mayor Lee Chang-woo, residents, and staff, gaining residents’ positive responses. Additionally, YouTuber Tzuyang, with 5.8 million subscribers, was appointed as a promotional ambassador to jointly promote district affairs.
Moreover, to deliver diverse content to residents, the district has planned programs such as ‘Noryangjin Hong PD TV’ introducing major policies, ‘Tomorrow’s JOB-ara’ with job information, ‘PR Plaza,’ and ‘Living in Dongjak.’
Somikyung, Head of Public Relations, said, “We will continue to produce content on district issues from residents’ perspectives and strive for interactive communication through various plans.”
Mapo-gu (District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) is recruiting members for the Mapo Innovation Education District Youth Committee, representing youth voices in educational settings, until April 15.
Since being designated as the ‘Mapo Innovation Education District’ in 2016, the district has been working with the local community, Mapo-gu, Western Education Support Office, and Seoul City to create a school-village education community.
In particular, to enhance transparency, efficiency, and expertise in innovative education, the district listens to diverse opinions from education stakeholders through a public-private-academic governance involving students, parents, educational civic groups, administrative agencies, and schools.
The ‘Mapo Innovation Education District Public-Private-Academic Governance’ consists of the Youth Committee, Teacher Committee, Parent Committee, and Community Committee. Among them, the Youth Committee represents youth positions in educational policy processes.
Main activities include ▲monthly regular meetings to gather Youth Committee opinions ▲monitoring and promoting innovation education district projects ▲planning and conducting Youth Committee’s own activities.
In the 2021 Mapo Innovation Education District performance report, Park Seo-jin, Chairperson of the Youth Committee, expressed, “It was truly rewarding to know that what I said and did helped and greatly influenced Mapo-gu’s projects.”
This year, the district is recruiting 10 youth committee members with a two-year term to actively reflect youth opinions in education policies.
Selected youth committee members will receive appointment certificates and have their volunteer hours recognized when participating in regular meetings. Those who perform diligently may also be recommended for Youth Committee awards and receive various activity supports.
Any middle or high school student residing in Mapo-gu or attending school in Mapo-gu, or youth of the corresponding age, can apply to be a youth committee member.
Applications can be submitted by downloading the participation application form from the ‘Notices & Announcements’ section on Mapo-gu Office’s website, filling it out, and sending it via email to the Education Support Division or submitting the online application form.
The district will accept applications until April 15, conduct a document review by the Mapo Innovation Education District Working Council, and announce the final members on the Mapo-gu Office website in April.
For more details, contact the Education Support Division of Mapo-gu Office.
A district official said, “Through participation in the Youth Committee, we hope youth grow into active and autonomous democratic citizens,” adding, “Education is a shared task of the entire community, so residents, administrative agencies, and schools will all participate together to make Mapo a happy educational innovation city for youth.”
Gwangjin-gu (District Mayor Kim Sun-gap) will provide a 500,000 KRW employment incentive to young people struggling with job seeking due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.
The ‘Unemployed Youth Employment Incentive’ is a livelihood policy project to support job-seeking activities of youth who have graduated, withdrawn, or completed school but have not crossed the employment threshold.
Eligible applicants are residents registered in Gwangjin-gu aged 19 to 34, who graduated, withdrew, or completed their final education in 2020, 2021, or 2022, and are unemployed without employment insurance. Those with employment insurance can apply if they work less than 26 hours per week or have short-term employment under three months.
Additionally, military service veterans who completed their service after graduation, withdrawal, or completion are eligible if within two years excluding actual military service period.
This year, the eligibility has expanded to include previous employment incentive recipients, beneficiaries of the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s National Employment Support System, and Seoul Youth Allowance recipients. However, university (graduate) students, students on leave, unemployment benefit recipients, business registrants, and current military service members are excluded.
Applications are accepted from March 21 to May 31 online via the Seoul Youth Portal. Detailed eligibility can be found on the Gwangjin-gu website and Seoul Youth Portal.
Selected applicants will receive 500,000 KRW in Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates (mobile Zero Pay) on their registered mobile phones, which can be used at Zero Pay affiliated stores in Gwangjin-gu. The employment incentive is fully funded by the district.
Kim Sun-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “We hope this support helps young people’s job-seeking efforts and revitalizes the local economy,” adding, “We will continue to implement various policies to create a livable environment for youth.”
Last year, the district supported 2,678 unemployed youth with a total of 1.339 billion KRW in employment incentives over two rounds.
With growing interest in the environment, Dongdaemun-gu (District Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) is collaborating with the Department of Landscape Architecture at the University of Seoul to provide high-quality lifelong education programs on environmental topics such as climate change.
The lifelong education program offered is related to Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), focusing on urban ecosystems and climate change response, and will be operated at the Dongdaemun-gu Lifelong Learning Center from April 5 to May 24.
Education for Sustainable Development is a global educational agenda agreed upon by the international community. The lectures will be conducted by expert professors from the University of Seoul’s Departments of Landscape Architecture, Urban Engineering, and Statistics, along with environmental experts, covering topics related to climate change and biodiversity loss among the UN’s 17 goals.
Main programs include ▲understanding urban ecosystems through science ▲future changes and practical measures in response to climate change. Participants will also engage in environmental activities such as data collection and analysis related to urban ecosystems and climate change, and case studies. A performance report meeting with case sharing and discussions is also planned.
The course is free, and residents wishing to enroll can apply through the Dongdaemun-gu Lifelong Learning Center website by the 25th. The program is limited to 30 participants on a first-come, first-served basis.
Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “As residents’ interest in environmental issues increases, we are providing lifelong education programs on environmental topics in collaboration with the prestigious University of Seoul,” adding, “We will continue to offer differentiated lifelong learning programs unique to our district and build a lifelong learning city growing together with residents.”
Seodaemun-gu (District Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 22nd that the Youth Counseling Welfare Center (Center Director Han Gwi-young), operated by the district, was recently selected as an operating institution for the ‘Youth Depression and Anxiety Intensive Psychological Clinic’ in a contest conducted by the Korea Youth Counseling & Welfare Institute.
Accordingly, the center will operate the clinic to help high-risk youth in the area suffering from feelings such as frustration, lethargy, depression, and anxiety recover their mental health.
The target group is youth aged 9 to 18, and the program is based on Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) theory, providing emotional regulation, stress coping, rational thinking, and interpersonal relationship formation programs.
To this end, the center has organized a ‘Crisis Management Team’ dedicated to managing depression and anxiety cases, providing systematic counseling to help youth overcome psychological crises.
A survey conducted by the Korea Youth Counseling & Welfare Institute in April last year on 862 youth about ‘main emotions experienced after COVID-19’ (multiple responses allowed) showed that anxiety and worry (53.2%) were the highest, followed by irritation (39.3%), depression (30.3%), and fear (18.6%).
Conversely, positive emotions such as gratitude (4.8%), calmness (4.5%), interest (3.6%), and composure (3.1%) were reported at low rates.
Notably, compared to the same survey a year ago, ‘interest’ dropped to less than a quarter (15.9% → 3.6%), and ‘gratitude’ (12.2% → 4.8%), ‘calmness’ (11.1% → 4.5%), and ‘composure’ (9.1% → 3.1%) fell to less than half.
Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, “In a situation where the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic negatively affects mental health, we will strengthen the functions of the Youth Counseling Welfare Center by providing systematic counseling interventions and excellent psychological programs for high-risk youth.”
To use the ‘Depression and Anxiety Intensive Psychological Clinic’ specializing in youth mental health issues, add the ‘Seodaemun-gu Youth Counseling Welfare Center’ KakaoTalk channel and apply for 1:1 chat counseling or inquire by phone.
Jungnang-gu (District Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) operates the Jungnang Rainbow Life Interpretation Group to support communication for multicultural families in the community who have difficulty with the Korean language.
The Jungnang Rainbow Life Interpretation Group is a multicultural family life interpretation support service operated by the Jungnang-gu Family Center. It provides interpretation support at district offices, community service centers, police stations, daycare centers, elementary schools, hospitals, banks, etc. The service can be requested not only by foreigners themselves but also by each institution. The interpreters travel to the required locations and recently have been providing non-face-to-face telephone interpretation services to respond to the increasing number of foreign COVID-19 confirmed cases.
The interpretation group started in 2019 with 19 interpreters covering 8 languages. This year, with an expanded budget, it operates with 29 interpreters covering 13 languages (Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Mongolian, Cambodian, Uzbek, Russian, Thai, Kyrgyz, Filipino, Malaysian, Indonesian).
The interpretation group has received high praise. A, who immigrated from Vietnam and has settled in Jungnang-gu for three years, recently tested positive for COVID-19 and received related guidance from the health center via phone and text but could not fully understand it. After contacting the interpretation group and resolving difficulties, A said, “I kept receiving texts but couldn’t understand the words, so I was anxious. Fortunately, I received interpretation services, understood the content, and was able to complete isolation with peace of mind,” expressing gratitude.
The average residence period in Korea for each interpreter is about 10 years. They hold relevant certifications such as TOPIK (Test of Proficiency in Korean), tourist interpreter, and judicial interpreter, ensuring professionalism. The Rainbow Life Interpretation Group provides stable jobs for multicultural family marriage immigrants and serves as a successful model for community settlement by helping local society and fellow immigrants.
Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “Through the Rainbow Life Interpretation Group, we hope the increasing multicultural families settle stably and receive timely help during difficult times like COVID-19,” adding, “We will spare no effort to create an environment where everyone can live without major inconvenience or discrimination.”
The Jungnang Rainbow Life Interpretation Service is available for application at any time. When interpretation is needed, contact the Jungnang-gu Family Center to request the service.
On the 21st, a special event was held at ‘iMom Gangdong’ Gildong branch.
Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Jung-hoon) held the ‘iMom Gangdong’ 3rd anniversary story submission event, receiving a tremendous response with 204 families sending their special stories, and twenty selected families spent a special day at the open playground.
This story submission event, held over five days from the 10th, collected various stories from families sharing precious memories made at ‘iMom Gangdong’ or expressing regret over repeatedly failing to secure reservations due to high competition. After screening, a total of 30 winners were selected.
Among the selected winners, 10 received chicken gift coupons, while the remaining 20 were invited to the open playgrounds of the four ‘iMom Gangdong’ branches to freely experience all childcare infrastructure available with their children.
Especially, the 3rd anniversary event held at the open playground of ‘iMom Gangdong’ Gildong branch invited five families with diverse stories, including a family celebrating their child’s first birthday in March, a family who repeatedly failed to make reservations due to high demand, and a medical staff family who faced more difficulties due to COVID-19, making the time more meaningful.
For the event, the district installed a self-studio for first birthday and 100-day celebration tables inside the open playground, and prepared various programs such as a commemorative cake cutting ceremony, balloon performances, and conversations with the district mayor, allowing families who faced many childcare difficulties due to COVID-19 to enjoy and heal.
Lee Jung-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “The rapid growth and expansion of iMom Gangdong by region is largely thanks to the residents who have used and supported it,” adding, “As it marks its 3rd anniversary as a representative childcare infrastructure in Gangdong-gu, we will continue to systematically promote various childbirth and parenting-friendly policies.”
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