[Seoul District News] Yongsan-gu Selects 8 Participants for 2nd Star Shop Project, Signs Agreement on 29th at District Office Conference Room to Support Monthly Rent of 1 Million KRW for 1 Year and Connect Startup Funds... Seocho-gu Recruits Trainees for '1st Seocho Smart Farm Future Talent Training' from April 1-14, Offering Korea's First Smart Farm Major with Sowing to Harvest and Environmental Control Education at Yeonam University's Vertical Farm... Nowon Youth Hangout Opens... Dobong-gu Recruits 'Youth Network Activists'... Gangnam-gu Allocates Highest District Education Budget of 31.2 Billion KRW
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) has selected 8 participants for the 2nd Star Shop Project. Star Shop is one of the district's commercial area revitalization measures that started in August 2021.
The 2nd batch includes Yoon Young-bae (39), Kang Ho-geon (36), Lim Yeon-kyung (36), Kim Jeong-eun (25), Han Ye-dam (31), Lee Moon-soo (43), Yoo Seo-i (36), and Zahid Hussein (35), ranging from their 20s to 40s.
The industries include 6 general restaurants and 2 retail stores. The general restaurants offer Korean, Japanese, Western, Halal cuisine, as well as electronic music performances and unique atmospheres. This is expected to add depth to the distinctive world food theme street of Itaewon. The retail stores handle personalized accessories, custom lighting, and designer clothing.
There were 16 applicants for the 2nd Star Shop. Applications were accepted until January 28. The district conducted a document review and then held interviews on March 11 for 12 candidates, evaluating entrepreneurial capabilities, feasibility, and preparation efforts, selecting 8 participants.
On the 29th, the district signed agreements with the project participants at the district office's main conference room and provided various guidelines. Participants must start their business within 150 days from the agreement date. Afterwards, the district supports monthly rent of 1 million KRW for one year from the business start date. Additionally, in cooperation with the Seoul Credit Guarantee Foundation, 'pre-startup consulting' education is provided, and startup funds up to 50 million KRW are lent.
Mayor Seong Jang-hyun of Yongsan-gu said, "We selected the 2nd Star Shop with the mindset of planting seeds for local commercial revitalization," adding, "Together with the 1st Star Shop participants, the district will spare no support to make them stars that brighten Itaewon." He continued, "We will recruit the 3rd Star Shop participants in early April. We hope many prospective entrepreneurs wishing to start businesses in Itaewon will show interest."
The district launched the Star Shop Project in August last year. Currently, 4 participants from the 1st batch have completed their startups.
Park Hyun-jung, CEO of Marine, a 1st Star Shop who started business in December last year, said, "Even without special marketing, customers have not stopped coming since opening," and added, "The Star Shop Project has a great effect on promotion."
In November last year, the district also opened the underground parking lot (floors B4-B5, 374 spaces) of the district office building 24 hours to revitalize the commercial area. This year, the issuance scale of Yongsan Love Gift Certificates will be expanded to 50 billion KRW, while promoting smart pilot shopping districts, neighborhood store art-terior support, small business loan support, and alleyway commercial area specialization support.
The Itaewon Tourism Special Zone is one of six tourism special zones in Seoul. It covers 383,292㎡ around Itaewon and Hannam-dong, densely packed with shopping malls, restaurants, and tourist hotels catering to foreign tourists. After the Korean War, souvenir sales targeted US military stationed at the US 8th Army base. The commercial area expanded in the early 1970s when the 121st Evacuation Hospital entered the US 8th Army base, and in 1997, it was designated as Seoul's first tourism special zone.
Seocho-gu operates the ‘2022 1st Seocho Smart Farm (Intelligent Farm) Future Talent Training Course’ for local residents interested in and eager to actively challenge urban agriculture.
‘Smart Farm’ refers to a business applying information and communication technologies such as artificial intelligence and big data to farming techniques, allowing efficient farm management without spatial and temporal constraints, making it a promising future agriculture model.
As part of the Smart Green project to create a ‘Smart City Seocho,’ the district developed and operated the ‘Seocho Smart Farm Talent Training Course’ in collaboration with Yeonam University, which opened the first smart farm major nationwide last year. The participants' satisfaction was very high, leading to many requests to open the course again this year.
The ‘2022 1st Seocho Smart Farm (Intelligent Farm) Future Talent Training Course’ runs for 7 weeks from April 29 to June 10, with 7 sessions totaling 28 hours, held once a week. Theoretical classes (2 sessions) cover the status and construction process of vertical farms. Practical classes (5 sessions) allow participants to sow seeds, cultivate, manage the environment, and harvest directly in the vertical farm cultivation room.
Among various types of ‘Smart Farms,’ the ‘vertical farm’ taught in this course is an ‘urban smart farm’ that cultivates plants vertically in multi-tiered spaces where environmental conditions such as light and temperature are controlled regardless of external conditions. It can operate not only on farmland but also in urban areas, with productivity far exceeding open-field farming, making it a promising industry leading the 4th industrial revolution era.
Participants can cultivate three types of leafy vegetables directly and also experience the growth environments of crops cultivated by other participants. Due to the practical nature of the course and limited simultaneous capacity in the cultivation room, only 10 participants will be selected for the 1st batch.
Applications are accepted from April 1 to 14 by downloading the application form from the Seocho-gu website notice board. Anyone aged 19 or older residing in Seocho-gu can apply. For detailed inquiries, contact the Seocho-gu Smart City Division.
The district plans to donate the harvested crops from the course to local welfare centers to support projects for elderly living alone.
Cheon Jeong-wook, Acting Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “We are pleased to offer a good opportunity through smart farm education, one of the promising industries leading the 4th industrial revolution era, to those interested in urban agriculture,” adding, “We hope this education will be a stepping stone for residents with career concerns to take steps toward the future.”
Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) announced that the opening ceremony of the youth cultural hub ‘Nowon Youth Agit’ was held at 7 p.m. on the 30th.
Nowon Youth Agit (Gongneung 2-dong) was created to provide a complex cultural vitality space reflecting youth needs such as performances, meetings, and rest. It has a dedicated area of 213.3㎡ equipped with a small performance stage, exhibition space, and media art space.
The center plans to support youth cultural activities through program operation and venue rental, serving as a base for youth art exhibitions and youth policy network subgroup meetings and activities.
The opening ceremony was attended by Mayor Oh Seung-rok and local youth, proceeding with pre-celebration performances, opening, progress report, presentation of plaques of appreciation, congratulatory speeches, celebratory performances, opening lighting ceremony, and facility tours.
Mayor Oh Seung-rok said, “I hope the Youth Agit becomes a space where young people can freely express their talents and creativity,” adding, “We will strive to expand spaces where youth can share ideas and concerns for various youth policies.”
Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) is recruiting activists for the ‘2022 Dobong-gu Youth Network’ to diagnose local social issues from the youth perspective and discover youth-driven policies.
This youth network project is designed to support youth deliberation on local agendas, youth activities, and regional network bonding.
The recruitment is for 60 people on a first-come, first-served basis, from March 28 to April 14. Youth aged 19 to 39 who live, study, work, or are active in Dobong-gu can apply.
Selected youth network activists will engage in activities until November, including ▲discovering and proposing youth policies ▲autonomous projects by subgroups ▲vitality communities ▲Youth Week ▲performance sharing meetings. A modest activity allowance will be provided, and a certificate of completion will be awarded for attendance above 50%.
Those wishing to participate can apply via the Dobong-gu Youth Network online site. Detailed information is available on the Dobong-gu official website.
In 2021, despite difficulties due to COVID-19, 39 youth across 4 subgroups successfully completed the course through non-face-to-face activities. Additionally, proposals to the 2021 ‘Seoul Youth Autonomous Budget System’ resulted in selection of three projects: ▲establishing a youth participation organization foundation ▲training Dobong-gu youth social innovators ▲supporting crime prevention safety kits for single youth households, securing 154 million KRW in funding.
After two years of non-face-to-face activities that limited youth engagement, this year, depending on the COVID-19 situation, the network plans to guarantee participant autonomy through more active programs such as youth vitality communities to enhance network operation.
Mayor Lee Dong-jin said, “I hope the youth’s creativity will propose new alternatives to long-standing local issues. We plan to ensure that youth network proposals with secured representation through policy deliberation are actively reviewed and reflected in policies by relevant departments.”
Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) secured 31.2 billion KRW in education subsidies this year to realize ‘Gangnam, Education No.1 District,’ nurturing future talents with creativity and character. This is an increase of 2 billion KRW compared to the previous year, the highest amount among Seoul’s 25 districts.
The education budget is allocated to 26 projects in four areas: 8.1 billion KRW for ‘future education infrastructure construction and talent nurturing’ including smart classrooms in elementary, middle, and high schools; 4.3 billion KRW for ‘creating safe and healthy educational environments’ including school facility improvements; 5.7 billion KRW for ‘supporting customized education programs and revitalizing public education’ including native English-speaking assistant teachers in middle schools; and 13.1 billion KRW for ‘realizing educational welfare’ including free meals for all school levels.
Especially, to build future education infrastructure, after establishing digital studios in elementary, middle, and high schools last year, this year the district plans to support 50 million KRW per school for ‘smart classroom construction projects’ including remote learning equipment and software. Additionally, three more schools will be equipped with hub-type makerspaces for education in coding, robotics, drones, and other 4th industrial revolution fields. The district will actively nurture future talents through AI, metaverse education, AR/VR equipment, and educational content support.
Mayor Jung Soon-gyun said, “Since the 7th term of the civilian government, Gangnam-gu has focused on closing educational gaps and nurturing creative convergence talents through various education support policies,” adding, “We will continue to invest generously in securing a robust education budget worthy of Gangnam’s reputation as Education No.1 District to nurture future talents leading the 4th industrial revolution era.”
Yeongdeungpo-gu (Mayor Chae Hyun-il) announced it will operate a metaverse content planning and development education course to nurture talents leading the 4th industrial era and support youth employment and entrepreneurship.
With recent advances in digital technology and the normalization of non-face-to-face activities, the ‘metaverse,’ a virtual world transcending reality, is rapidly emerging as a leading future industry. As the metaverse market expands, interest in new jobs and tasks is also increasing.
Accordingly, the district plans to provide customized job training for local youth to strengthen practical skills in digital new technology fields and support successful employment and entrepreneurship.
This education is part of the 2022 Youth Challenge Support Project led by the Ministry of Employment and Labor. The district was selected for the public project and signed an agreement with the local specialized education institution, the Korea Digital Convergence Association, to operate the course from April to November.
The curriculum includes ▲virtual space design using metaverse platforms ▲VR 360° video shooting and content production methods, as well as ▲health and psychological counseling and consulting to aid job seeking, and ▲mentoring programs with current professionals.
The target participants are youth aged 18 to 34 who have given up job seeking, youth preparing for independence, and youth entering or leaving youth shelters. The course runs in 8 batches of 25 people each month, free of charge. Upon completing over 40 hours of curriculum with national funding support, participants receive 200,000 KRW each.
The 1st batch, held from April 18 to 30, will recruit 25 participants on a first-come, first-served basis until April 17. Interested youth can apply online via the Google form posted on the Yeongdeungpo-gu Youth Online Platform or visit the Korea Digital Convergence Association.
For detailed information, contact the Korea Digital Convergence Association or check the ‘Yeongdeungpo-gu Youth Challenge Support Project’ Naver blog.
Mayor Chae Hyun-il of Yeongdeungpo-gu said, “This education is part of proactive efforts to respond to accelerating digital technology, create an environment for new industries, and nurture metaverse specialists,” adding, “We hope the professional talents produced through this education will thrive in various fields in the future.”
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