[Seoul District News] Seodaemun Hope Car Service Available for Elderly Without Disability Grades and Temporarily Mobility-Impaired Residents... Affordable Fares: 1,200 KRW Within 5km, 2,300 KRW for 5-10km... Jongno Children's Theater Celebrates 6th Anniversary with 'Mom Story,' a Reimagining of Andersen's Fairy Tale 'Mother Story'... Dongdaemun-gu Supports Housing Renovation for Residential Environment Improvement in Godeaem Village New Deal Project Area... Gangseo-gu Operates 'Our Neighborhood Storage Help' to Improve Housing Conditions for Vulnerable Groups... Gangdong-gu Launches Gangdong01 Village Bus Service...
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) held a commemorative test ride ceremony for the operation of the ‘Seodaemun Hope Car’ on the 22nd at Gajwa Happiness Culture Park in Namgajwa 1-dong (43 Susaek-ro).
Earlier, the district partnered with Kakao Mobility (CEO Ryu Geung-seon) and the Seodaemun-gu Community Care Business Group (CEO Ok Soon-cheol) to launch the operation of the ‘Seodaemun Hope Car’ on the 20th in celebration of Disabled Persons Day, aimed at supporting transportation for vulnerable groups. Kakao Mobility provides the vehicles, and the Community Care Business Group is responsible for service execution.
This vehicle is intended for people with disabilities and the elderly residing in Seodaemun-gu, and especially those elderly without disability grades and residents with temporary mobility difficulties due to injuries can also use it, so high demand is expected.
The ‘Seodaemun Hope Car’ is a specially equipped vehicle that can accommodate both wheelchair and non-wheelchair users, with a maximum capacity of 5 passengers, and two vehicles are in operation.
Operating hours are weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed on weekends and public holidays), and the service area covers the entire Seodaemun-gu and nearby districts including Mapo, Eunpyeong, Jongno, and Jung-gu.
For travel to other areas within Seoul, consultation is required at the time of reservation.
The fare is 1,200 KRW for up to 5 km one-way, 2,300 KRW for 5 to 10 km, and an additional 100 KRW per km beyond 10 km.
Reservations can be made by applying one day in advance through the ‘Seodaemun Hope Car’ call center, with same-day applications possible depending on availability. Starting June, applications will also be accepted via a newly established website.
Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, “The operation of the Seodaemun Hope Car will promote social activities for transportation-vulnerable groups and alleviate the caregiving burden on guardians. We will spare no support to ensure safe transportation through public-interest vehicle operation.”
The Seodaemun-gu Community Care Business Group, which provides this service, is a coalition of 12 social economy enterprises and institutions in the local care sector, offering customized services such as mobility support, home care, visiting bathing and beauty services, nutrition management, rehabilitation and health exercise, dementia diagnosis and prevention, housing convenience, music therapy, laundry, and welfare equipment rental.
Jongno-gu will present an encore performance that the whole family can enjoy together to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the opening of the Children’s Theater (91 Sungkyunkwan-ro).
The fairy tale play ‘Mom’s Story’ is a reimagining of Andersen’s ‘Mother’s Story.’ On a cold winter night, the death messenger visits the son Tae-o, and the deep maternal love is portrayed as the mother gives everything she has, screaming and fighting to reclaim her son.
With the full lifting of social distancing, this will be a precious opportunity to satisfy the cultural and artistic desires of residents who had been withdrawn due to COVID-19 and to reaffirm love for family during Family Month.
Performances will be held from May 5 to 8 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. on Thursday, 4 p.m. on Friday, and 2 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The recommended viewing age is 36 months and older, and tickets are 20,000 KRW for all seats.
Reservations can be made through the Children’s Theater website and Interpark. For more details, visit the Jongno Children’s Theater website or contact the Jongno Cultural Foundation Performance Business Team.
Additionally, a performance titled ‘Sea Writing’ has been prepared to raise awareness among children about the importance of Hangul.
This work reflects the modern person’s neglect of writing due to excessive use of digital media, offering many insights to those living today. It will be available from April 28 to May 1.
The Jongno Children’s Theater, established in April 2016 as the nation’s first public theater dedicated solely to children, continuously introduces high-quality children’s plays and operates various educational programs to help develop creativity and sensitivity in children and adolescents.
A district official explained, “We plan to stage various works so that children can dream and grow through theater,” adding, “We ask for much interest in this performance planned to celebrate the 6th anniversary of the opening.”
Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) will promote the 2022 housing improvement support project to improve the residential environment in the Godaeap Village New Deal project area.
The housing improvement support project aims to improve the residential environment and urban aesthetics by supporting repairs of old houses in the area. Dongdaemun-gu plans to invest about 600 million KRW in 2022 to carry out the project.
Support covers 90% of construction costs per household, up to a maximum of 11.17 million KRW. Eligible houses are those over 20 years old located within the Godaeap Village New Deal project area. However, unauthorized and violating buildings are excluded from support.
Residents wishing to receive support should prepare documents (application form, repair request details, etc.) and visit the Godaeap Village Urban Regeneration Field Support Center (148 Anam-ro, 02-927-9589) in person by May.
Through the housing improvement support project, the district supported 9 households in 2020 and 47 households in 2021 with about 600 million KRW.
Career-interrupted women are stepping up as storage organization experts to improve the residential environment of vulnerable residents.
Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced the launch of the ‘Our Neighborhood Storage Organization Helpers’ project, providing storage organization services to neighbors with poor living conditions and in need of tidying up.
The project aims to provide a pleasant living environment to vulnerable groups, offering emotional and psychological stability, while creating new jobs for women whose careers were interrupted due to housework and childcare.
To implement the project, the district hired 14 career-interrupted women with storage organization certifications and completed pre-education on home care and living quarantine.
They form teams of four, conduct pre-visit consultations with applicant households, decide on organization areas, and provide customized storage organization and disinfection services.
Along with organizing, they improve space utilization through appropriate item placement, providing a comfortable living environment and emotional stability.
After organizing, follow-up management is provided to maintain cleanliness. Free basic education on storage organization systems and space-specific storage methods (10 hours) is offered to the households.
Eligible recipients are single-parent, multicultural, disabled, and North Korean defector families, as well as households with income below 65% of the median income in Gangseo-gu. The district plans to support a total of 210 households this year.
Households wishing to apply can do so by phone at the Gangseo Women’s Human Resources Development Center. However, applications may close early if there are many applicants.
A district official said, “The storage organization service is not just about tidying up but provides a healthy and comfortable living environment to heal the hearts of vulnerable groups. We hope this project will be a great help to both families struggling with organization and career-interrupted women.”
Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hoon) will adjust the ‘Gangdong 01’ village bus route and introduce the night owl bus (late-night bus) ‘N34’ to improve public transportation convenience for local residents.
First, the ‘Gangdong 01’ route will be adjusted and operated starting from the first bus on April 23. The district explained that the route adjustment aims to alleviate inconveniences for village bus users in Myeongil-dong, Gil-dong, and Dunchon-dong and to enhance public transportation transfer convenience at Line 9 Jungang Veterans Hospital Station.
The ‘Gangdong 01’ route runs from Gildong Shindonga Apartment (Shinmyeong Elementary School) to Gangbyeon Station. With this change, the starting point will be moved to Myeongil-dong Hanyang Apartment, and the bus will pass through Daemyeong Elementary School and Myeongil 2-dong Community Service Center, areas previously without bus service. The adjusted total route length is about 19.3 km, with intervals of 8 to 10 minutes.
A district official explained, “This route passes Jungang Veterans Hospital Station on one-way trips, which has caused many complaints. With this adjustment, the route will pass both directions between Gildong Samik Garden Apartment and Gildong Shindonga Apartment and the Jungang Veterans Hospital Station section, greatly improving public transportation convenience for residents during commuting hours.”
The ‘N34’ night owl bus will start its first operation from Gangdong Garage at 11:20 p.m. on May 1.
The terminals are Gangdong Public Garage and Sinsa Station. Major stops include Sangil-dong Station, Godeok Station, Amsa Station, Cheonho Station, and Gangdong-gu Office Station. It passes key Gangnam area points such as Jamsil Station, Samsung Station, and Yeoksam Station, turning back at Sinsa Station. The interval is 35 to 40 minutes, with the last bus at 3:50 a.m.
A district official said, “Currently, the only night owl bus operating in Gangdong-gu is the ‘N30’ route, which passes major points between Gangdong and Gangbuk and turns back at Seoul Station. With the addition of ‘N34,’ which runs between Gangdong and Gangnam, late-night public transportation convenience for residents will greatly improve.”
The district has continuously communicated with residents and Seoul city authorities to propose and negotiate route adjustments to improve public transportation.
In particular, due to large population inflows from the Godeok Gangil housing development and housing reconstruction projects, the district has actively worked to connect major subway stations in the area. This has resulted in the introduction of route 3323, adjustments and increases in routes 2312 and 342, adjustments to route 341, and increases in route 3212, improving transfer convenience at key local points.
Mayor Lee Jung-hoon said, “We will continue to do our best to add new bus routes and adjust existing ones according to public transportation demand from major development projects such as Godeok Biz Valley, ensuring residents have no inconvenience in using public transportation.”
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