Why Are Dongdaemun-gu Civil Service Office Employees Safer Wearing Wearable Cameras?

[Seoul District News] Dongdaemun-gu Distributes 33 Wearable Cameras to Protect Civil Complaint Officers; Conducted Simulation Training on Jan 29 to Check Usage and Application... Gangbuk-gu Builds Smart Poles Combining ICT Technology on Ohyeon-ro and Uicheon Area Road Facilities... Guro-gu Provides Seoul Beautiful House Repair Subsidies and Loan Support

Training Exercise with Employees Wearing Wearable Cameras and Simulated Unusual Civil Petitioners

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor You Deok-yeol) selected departments with frequent face-to-face civil service tasks to protect civil service officers from verbal abuse and assault by malicious complainants, distributing 33 wearable cameras, and conducted a simulated training for unusual complaints using wearable cameras at 10 a.m. on the 29th of last month.

The wearable camera is a device worn around the neck in the form of a necklace, capable of capturing a 360-degree view without blind spots even while moving.

The district introduced wearable cameras to prevent unexpected situations on-site by informing complainants of the recording and guiding them to recognize the filming when illegal acts such as verbal abuse and assault by complainants or malicious chronic complaints occur. A total of 33 wearable cameras were distributed to the district office’s comprehensive civil service office, Dong resident centers, and departments with frequent face-to-face civil service tasks.

Also, from 10 a.m. on the 29th, a simulated training for unusual complaints using wearable cameras was conducted at the comprehensive civil service office on the first floor of the district office. The simulated training for unusual complaints is a training to familiarize with role-specific response measures according to a virtual scenario by organizing a ‘Unusual Complaint Response Team.’

This training included additional content such as checking applicable situations and reviewing usage methods to ensure smooth use of the newly introduced wearable cameras. To protect complainants’ personal information, the wearable cameras are used only minimally after prior notice that filming and recording may occur if illegal acts happen, and the recorded videos are prohibited from arbitrary editing, deletion, or manipulation except by the video management officer.

A district official stated, “We aim to prevent unfortunate situations or accidents that may occur during official duties by utilizing wearable cameras and to protect both residents and employees,” adding, “We will continue to support employees to provide stable civil administrative services and prepare various measures to create a comfortable civil service office environment where residents can use services with peace of mind.”

Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Park Gyeom-su) is leading the creation of a smart city by establishing smart poles.

Smart poles are smart city infrastructure that combines advanced information and communication technology (ICT) such as public Wi-Fi, Internet of Things (IoT), and urban data (S-DoT) sensors with road facilities like streetlights, traffic lights, and CCTV poles.

The district was finally selected in April for the ‘2022 Smart Pole Standard Model Expansion Project Autonomous District Contest’ held by Seoul City and will promote the smart pole construction project by November with a total budget of 125 million KRW.

The smart poles will be constructed in connection with the old streetlight renovation project around Ohyeon-ro, including the walking trails of Buk Seoul Dream Forest, Beolmal Park, and the area along Ui Stream.

Smart devices such as CCTV, emergency bells, public Wi-Fi, urban data sensors, wind direction and speed sensors, and motion detection sensors will be installed together on the streetlights.

Additionally, road facilities such as streetlights and CCTV poles will be integrated into smart poles to improve urban aesthetics and the walking environment for residents.

Mayor Park Gyeom-su of Gangbuk-gu said, “This smart pole construction project will provide residents with a safer and smarter walking environment,” adding, “We will enhance Gangbuk-gu’s smart city competitiveness by expanding infrastructure that combines smart city technology in the era of the 4th industrial revolution.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Seong) is launching the ‘Seoul Beautiful House Repair Subsidy and Loan Support’ project.

Guro-gu announced on the 2nd that it is recruiting applicants for the Seoul Beautiful House project, which supports part of the costs for repairing old houses in low-rise residential areas.

The ‘Seoul Beautiful House Project’ supports part of the costs (subsidy and loan) for performance improvement construction such as roof, waterproofing, insulation, and window repairs to improve the residential environment for houses located in the housing performance improvement support zone.

The repair subsidy or loan support targets houses that have been approved for use for more than 20 years.

For repair subsidies, within 50% of the construction cost, the maximum amount is 12 million KRW for detached and multi-family houses, and 17 million KRW for multi-unit and row houses.

Loan support has a limit of up to 80% of the construction cost: 60 million KRW for detached houses, 30 million KRW for multi-family houses (up to 2 units), and 30 million KRW per unit for multi-unit and row houses. For new constructions, the limits are 100 million KRW for detached houses and 50 million KRW per unit for multi-family houses (up to 6 units).

Additionally, houses approved for use over 10 years ago can receive interest support of up to 2% per annum on market interest rates when taking out loans for repairs or new construction.

Applicants wishing to apply must visit the district office’s Urban Regeneration Division by May 13 and submit documents. If the house is located in Guro 2-dong, applications can also be submitted at the Guro 2-dong Urban Regeneration Support Center, and if in Gaebong 1-dong, at the Gaebong 1-dong Urban Regeneration Support Center.

Detailed information such as announcements and application forms can be found on the district office or Seoul City’s Jipsuri.com website.

The final recipients will be selected after review by the Seoul City subsidy review committee.

A Guro-gu official said, “We hope this housing support project will enable residents to live in a pleasant environment.”