Yongsan-gu Exemplary Public Officials in Proactive Administration... Kim Yumi, Park Heesook, and Lee Hyojin Selected

[Seoul District News] Yongsan-gu Establishes Smart Safety Management System, Creates Youth Activity Spaces, Resolves Hoarding Crisis Households; Provides District Mayor Commendations, Top Performance Bonuses, Priority Overseas Training Selection... Dongjak-gu Operates Democratic Citizenship School... Seodaemun-gu Holds 'Human Rights Toktok! Content' Contest to Enhance Human Rights Sensitivity... Seocho-gu Recruits Food Safety Guardians ‘Consumer Food Hygiene Monitors’... Gwanak-gu Runs Online Job Experience Program ‘Job Bootcamp’

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) has selected three outstanding public officials for proactive administration in the first half of 2022.

The awardees are Kim Yumi, Smart Information Division Smart Project Team Officer (Grand Prize), Park Heesook, Regional Policy Division Youth Policy Team Officer (Excellence), and Lee Hyojin, Hangangro-dong Life Welfare Team Officer (Encouragement), totaling three.

◆ Facility Safety Management at a Glance Using Internet of Things Technology

Kim Yumi, a 17-year veteran who joined this year, was honored as an outstanding proactive public official for establishing a ‘Digital-based Safety Management System for Aging Risk Facilities.’

More than half of the buildings in Yongsan-gu are over 30 years old, increasing the demand for safety accident prevention measures for aging facilities. In response, Officer Kim built a ‘Smart Safety Management System’ that integrates facility management and predicts and prevents accident risks by utilizing digital technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT) sensors.

Currently, 687 IoT measurement sensors installed at 54 public facilities and 68 private facilities automatically detect early risk factors such as building tilt, vibration, and cracks, issuing alarm notifications. This is expected to significantly prevent accidents by identifying warning signs of facility collapse in advance.

Officer Kim explained, “We faced difficulties obtaining consent forms from private facility owners for sensor installation,” adding, “It was challenging to secure contact information, gather opinions from residents of multi-family housing without a designated management entity, and obtain consent from owners living in other regions.”

She also said, “Some owners hesitated to consent, fearing a decline in real estate value due to recognition as risky buildings,” but “I explained that even aging buildings could be free from risk accidents through sensor installation.”

The system built by the Smart Information Division underwent pilot operation until June this year and will be used by 11 management departments starting in July.

◆ Completion of Youth-Friendly City Hub Space ‘Yongsan Youth Jium’

Park Heesook, a 13-year public official, was selected as an outstanding proactive public official for ‘Creating a Youth-Friendly City Yongsan.’

Since taking charge of youth affairs on January 1, 2020, Officer Park achieved significant results in youth policy, including establishing ‘Yongsan Youth Jium,’ the largest youth community space in Seoul; securing 227 million KRW in city funds for activating youth policy governance public projects; and obtaining 36 million KRW in city funds for selection in the Seoul-type New Deal Job Project.

When Officer Park first took on the role, frequent staff changes and the absence of a dedicated youth team hindered the activation of youth participation organizations (now Youth Policy Network). There was a lack of human and material resources in the community and low understanding of youth policy, making it difficult to discover effective policies and lacking momentum for policy promotion.

In response, Officer Park benchmarked other local governments, established policy directions based on research, and actively discovered local resources. By creating a youth activity space as a hub for youth policy promotion, Yongsan Youth Jium was developed with youth leading every step?from design, space composition, naming, to BI development?making it a ‘product of collaborative governance’ with the district. The creation of the youth space simultaneously led to the activation of youth policy governance.

Officer Park said, “The voices of youth, the stakeholders, are most important in youth issues,” adding, “Through the process of solving problems together with youth, we achieved a tangible result called ‘Youth Jium’ and the youth themselves felt a sense of self-efficacy that they can do something, which was rewarding.”

◆ Resolving Long-Term Unresolved Hoarding Crisis Households

Lee Hyojin, a 9-year social affairs public official, was recognized for proactive administration in assisting vulnerable groups by handling waste in a long-term unresolved hoarding crisis household in Hangangro-dong through public-private cooperation.

The target household had stored waste inside the home for over 10 years, causing conflicts with neighbors and severely poor hygiene conditions. The elderly resident posed a high risk of casualties in case of fire.

Within three months of starting work at the Hangangro-dong Community Service Center, Officer Lee identified the household’s status, complaints, and resident trends through the local community leader and visited the household three times starting early April.

Officer Lee said, “During home visits, I found waste piled up inside and outside the house while a portable gas burner was being used nearby,” adding, “I immediately convened a case meeting, fearing a major fire could break out at any moment.”

From April 22 to 26, a total of 40 participants including community leaders, residents’ autonomy committee members, staff, and volunteers removed about 13 tons of waste.

Afterward, Officer Lee has been supporting follow-up care and monitoring by assisting the elderly resident with psychological testing and treatment linkage at the Mental Health Promotion Center, use of Dementia Relief Center services, and application for long-term care services.

The district selected outstanding proactive public officials through procedures including candidate recommendation reception, performance verification, and a selection committee held in May.

Outstanding officials receive incentives such as the district mayor’s commendation, a plate trophy, a prize of 300,000 KRW, top-grade performance bonuses, priority selection for overseas training, and priority allocation of recreational facilities.

Yongsan-gu Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, “Proactive administration is about creating great change through a shift in thinking,” adding, “Employees who apply new ideas and efficient methods to actual work and create success stories are the driving force of Yongsan administration.”

Dongjak-gu (Mayor Lee Chang-woo) will operate the ‘2022 Democratic Citizenship School’ from this month through September to cultivate residents’ democratic awareness and foster a healthy community culture.

This educational program is themed ‘Democracy in Everyday Life for All Dongjak Residents’ and is divided into four parts: ▲Democratic Citizenship Academy ▲Dongjak Democratic Citizenship Practice Activities ▲Visiting Democratic Citizenship School ▲Meetings between Youth and Local Residents.

First, the Democratic Citizenship Academy starting on the 27th will focus on the climate crisis, exploring topics such as waste generated by mass consumption and the connection between human rights and the environment. Subsequently, eight sessions will cover changes in international affairs, COVID-19 and the global economy, politics in daily life, and more, providing time to reflect on issues affecting community life.

Lectures will be held face-to-face at the Seoul Women’s Plaza, and any interested resident can apply by the 25th via a Google form or text message.

Additionally, participants of the Democratic Citizenship Academy will form groups to engage in activities such as ▲practicing democracy in daily life ▲small group reading clubs, and thematic campaigns for hands-on experience.

Furthermore, from September to October, a visiting Democratic Citizenship School will be held for 140 youths. It will provide a forum for youth to discuss local issues and village education problems, laying the foundation for their growth as mature members of society with civic consciousness.

Notably, this year, youth and local residents will gather to conduct a campaign delivering messages about peace and the environment across the district accompanied by flowers, along with events that everyone can enjoy.

All programs will be operated in strict compliance with quarantine rules and safety policies, and schedules may change depending on the COVID-19 situation.

For more details, inquiries can be made to the Education Policy Division.

Jung Jong-rok, head of the Education Policy Division, said, “Through this education, we hope participating residents will concretely understand various social relationships in democratic citizenship education and realize democracy in everyday life.”

Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) is conducting the ‘2022 Human Rights TokTok! Content Contest’ to spread a culture of respect for human rights and cultivate human rights sensitivity.

The categories are ▲Slogan (within 30 characters including spaces) ▲Poster (A3 size) ▲Card News (8 or more pages), and anyone regardless of residence or age can submit one entry on any free theme expressing the importance of human rights.

The district provided examples such as eradicating human rights violations in daily life, discrimination-free Seodaemun-gu, the Fourth Industrial Revolution and human rights, and environmental human rights.

The submission period is from June 13 to July 15 at 6 p.m. Applicants can download the application form from the district website (Citizen Participation → Open Plaza → Human Rights TokTok Content Contest), fill it out, and submit it via email along with their work file.

Slogans should be submitted as Hangul (hwp) files, and posters and card news as JPG or PNG files (hand-drawn images should be scanned or photographed).

The district will select a total of 36 winners, including 1 grand prize, 2 excellence awards, 3 merit awards, 6 encouragement awards, and 24 honorable mentions, based on creativity, relevance, and usability, awarding certificates and prizes (cultural gift certificates).

Last year, 12 works were selected from 531 submissions, but this year the number of awards has increased.

The district will use the winning works in human rights booklets and related promotional materials and exhibit them at various events around the World Human Rights Day (December 10).

Seodaemun-gu Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, “Through this contest, we hope empathy for human dignity and the value of human rights will spread, and excellent content will be well utilized to realize a human rights-friendly community.”

For more details about the contest, contact the Seodaemun-gu Human Rights Team.

Seocho-gu is recruiting 18 new ‘Consumer Food Hygiene Inspectors’ by the 9th to secure trust in food safety and enhance transparency in hygiene administration for residents in the district.

Consumer Food Hygiene Inspectors, under the Food Sanitation Act, directly participate in guiding and inspecting hygiene management of food service establishments, supporting sample inspections, providing information on food poisoning prevention and food culture improvement projects, and various promotional activities related to food hygiene, acting as guardians to ensure safe food for residents.

Eligibility includes residents registered in Seocho-gu as of May 18 this year, those recommended by consumer group leaders, holders of food-related certificates, graduates of related departments, or those who have worked in food hygiene administration for over one year, with final selection through document screening. However, those currently appointed as consumer food hygiene inspectors in other regions or operators or workers (including family) of food hygiene-related businesses are restricted.

Details can be found in the notices/announcements section on the Seocho-gu website. For other inquiries, contact the Seocho-gu Health Center Hygiene Division.

The district has made great efforts to ensure residents visit hygiene establishments with confidence. This year, it has supported 50% of kitchen repair costs (up to 500,000 KRW) for restaurants under 100㎡ and provided customized hygiene consulting for about 1,430 delivery food establishments in the area. Last year, it also supported ‘installation of table partitions,’ receiving great responses from business owners.

Park Jong-duk, head of the Hygiene Division, said, “We hope residents who are interested in food safety and hygiene administration actively support us so that we can build a food safety system trusted by residents.”

Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Jun-hee) announced it will operate an online job experience program called ‘Gwanak-gu Job Boot Camp’ for youth starting in July.

This ‘Job Boot Camp’ is a hands-on program that goes beyond simple job lectures and mentoring, allowing participants to perform real work tasks over five weeks with actual professionals having 3 to 7 years of experience and receive feedback, providing youth with immersive and practical job experience.

The offered job fields, which are highly interesting to youth, include ▲Semiconductor Process Technology ▲Semiconductor Quality ▲Office Administration ▲IT/SW ▲Pharmaceutical Research. Participating youth will act as practitioners in these fields and perform tasks developed and applied in collaboration with mentors working at well-known companies in each sector.

All programs will be conducted online via Zoom, starting with Semiconductor Quality and IT camps on July 4, followed by Pharmaceutical Research and Office Administration on July 9, and Semiconductor Process Technology on July 13.

The recruitment target is up to 8 participants per camp, totaling 40, open to youth aged 19 to 39 residing in Seoul. Priority will be given to Gwanak-gu residents or university students in the district.

The application period is until June 26, and applicants can select and apply for their desired job field on the Job Boot Camp dedicated webpage.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “We hope this hands-on program providing the most needed job experience during job preparation will help youth job seekers strengthen their practical capabilities and connect to employment.”