Park Hee-young, Yongsan District Mayor, Meets and Listens to Residents... Park Kang-soo, Mapo District Mayor, Begins Communication with Staff

[Seoul District News] Park Hee-young, Yongsan-gu Mayor, Holds First Work Report and Resident Dialogue for 13-22 Days of 8th Term... Park Kang-soo, Mapo-gu Mayor, Meets Staff at First Regular Assembly... Jeong Moon-heon, Jongno-gu Mayor, Tours 17 Neighborhoods to Hear Resident Opinions... Lee Seung-ro, Seongbuk-gu Mayor, Conducts Regular Staff Assembly for 8th Term Launch

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Park Hee-young) will hold the ‘First District Office Work Report Meeting and Dialogue with Residents of the 8th Elected Term’ for 8 days from the 13th to the 22nd.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, will visit 16 neighborhoods, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, receiving reports on local issues from each neighborhood chief and meeting residents for dialogue.

At this event, Mayor Park will discuss the direction of the 8th elected term’s district administration and local issues together with the residents.

The schedule is as follows: ▲ Namyeong·Cheongpa (13th) ▲ Hyochang·Wonhyo-ro 1(il) (14th) ▲ Wonhyo-ro 2(i)·Yongmun (15th) ▲ Hangang-ro·Ichon 1(il) (18th) ▲ Ichon 2(i)·Huam (19th) ▲ Yongsan 2(i)-ga·Itaewon 2(i) (20th) ▲ Itaewon 1(il)·Hannam (21st) ▲ Seobinggo·Bogwang (22nd).

The event will proceed for one hour each, including a pre-event, introduction of guests, work report, presentation and response to prior suggestions, and dialogue with residents. The venue varies by neighborhood, and about 100 people including key guests and residents are expected to attend.

A district official said, “Since this is the first official visit to the neighborhoods after the new mayor’s inauguration, we have prepared a substantive report meeting,” adding, “Any questions or suggestions can be asked directly to the mayor on site.”

The 16 neighborhoods submitted 3 to 5 local issues as suggestions. Matters handled by the neighborhood such as parking enforcement and cleaning will be dealt with directly. Abstract suggestions that cannot designate a processing department were guided to be made more specific.

The dialogue with residents will be led by the district mayor, focusing on residents’ suggestions. Matters requiring further review will be examined by each district department and feedback will be given to the suggesters.

Considering the spread of COVID-19, the attendance scale was reduced from 300 to 100 people. Thorough quarantine measures such as mask-wearing, hand sanitizer provision, ventilation, and disinfection will be implemented.

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan-gu, said, “Starting the 8th elected term, I promised to work together with the residents. The success of district administration depends on how much the distance between local residents and administration is narrowed,” adding, “Small inconveniences in daily life accumulate into big inconveniences. I will have many conversations with residents about small but uncomfortable issues and improve them step by step so that Yongsan can achieve greater leaps.”

Mapo-gu (District Mayor Park Kang-soo) held the ‘2022 Staff Assembly Commemorating the Launch of the 8th Elected Term’ sharing the vision of ‘New Mapo, Better Mapo’ on the 11th at the Mapo-gu Office auditorium.

At the first official meeting with Mapo-gu staff, Mayor Park Kang-soo sincerely shared stories about himself with the intention of getting to know each other, receiving much applause.

In front of about 480 staff filling the auditorium, Mayor Park began by saying, “I lost my mother early and went through difficult times,” showing a human side by briefly tearing up thinking of his mother.

He continued, “When I was in the third year of middle school, I came to Seoul without a plan and felt the great sorrow of having nowhere to go,” explaining that this shared hardship made him more attentive to those in difficulty.

He stated that regardless of parents’ wealth, children are all vulnerable, and those who have lost economic power are also vulnerable, pledging generous investment in ▲ free meals for seniors over 75 ▲ establishment of Sunlight Centers for pregnancy and childbirth support ▲ establishment of a Disability Committee ▲ establishment of a Youth Startup Support Center.

He also said, “Seeing people busily moving around Seoul, I felt that ‘steps with a destination are strong’ and always worked hard toward my goals,” adding, “Once I make up my mind and if it is the right thing, I have the integrity not to back down from any criticism or pressure,” urging everyone to join in the new changes and development of Mapo.

For this, in the 8th elected term, he proposed ‘real communication’ through ▲ 365 Resident Communication Phone ▲ establishment of a Win-Win Committee to scratch where residents itch.

He also asked for dedication to revitalizing the local economy by advancing as a cultural tourism city, saying, “Let’s inject economic vitality into Mapo through ▲ operation of the Han River Mapo Circular Train Bus ▲ creation of Nanji Complex Cultural Tourism Complex ▲ establishment of Mapo Retention Basin K-POP Performance Hall,” and urged focus on life-centered administration, the original domain of local government.

He also revealed his attitude as the district mayor leading Mapo-gu public officials in the 8th elected term, promising not to burden staff for hasty achievements and not to be a mayor who only gives orders, and pledging fair personnel management to reward work.

Finally, he concluded the assembly by asking the public officials of Mapo-gu in the 8th elected term to maintain a humble attitude, focus only on residents, do their best in their duties, realize clean administration, and strive to create a planned and efficient organizational culture through self-directed work.

Jongno-gu (District Mayor Jeong Moon-heon) will tour 17 neighborhood community centers from the 15th to the 25th to share the direction of the 8th elected term district administration and have informal communication time between the mayor and residents.

This is the “Dialogue with Residents of the 8th Elected Term” prepared to inform in detail the vision and major projects of the newly advancing Jongno-gu and to listen to various opinions from residents for regional development.

The detailed schedule starts with Cheongunhyoja-dong and Sajik-dong on the 15th, followed by ▲ Muak-dong, Gyo-nam-dong, Buam-dong on the 18th ▲ Pyeongchang-dong, Samcheong-dong, Gahoe-dong on the 19th ▲ Jongno 1, 2, 3, 4-ga-dong, Ihwa-dong, Hyehwa-dong on the 20th ▲ Jongno 5, 6-ga-dong on the 21st ▲ Changsin 1-dong, Changsin 2-dong, Changsin 3-dong on the 22nd ▲ Sungin 1-dong, Sungin 2-dong on the 25th.

Attendees include resident autonomy committee chairpersons, neighborhood leaders, heads of functional organizations, and other residents who have affection and interest in the area.

The neighborhood chief will directly present the current projects in their jurisdiction, residents will propose opinions on district administration, and the mayor will respond, with each neighborhood session lasting about 90 minutes.

This is expected to be a valuable time to carefully examine the current situation of each area in Jongno-gu and hear vivid voices from the field.

In particular, this is noteworthy as Mayor Jeong Moon-heon’s first step emphasizing that Jongno’s innovation and change must be based on a solid consensus with residents.

Mayor Jeong Moon-heon said, “This event was prepared to hear residents’ voices directly on site with the goal of ‘Seoul’s heart, Jongno beating again,’” adding, “I will work together with residents as partners of administration every moment to make Jongno a better place to live and a model for the world in the 8th elected term.”

Seongbuk-gu (District Mayor Lee Seung-ro) held a regular staff assembly for the launch of the 8th elected term. The assembly, held on the 12th at the district office multipurpose hall, was attended by about 100 senior public officials including Mayor Lee Seung-ro. The rest of the public officials joined online.

The assembly began with a support video from Seongbuk-gu members. Various generations and sectors including Chris Johnson, an American-born broadcaster and resident of Jongam-dong; Father Gabriel Shin, who runs a 3,000 won kimchi stew restaurant for youth called Youth Table; children, seniors, and merchants all cheered for the success of the 8th elected term.

Then, Mayor Lee Seung-ro directly revealed the vision of the 8th elected term district administration. He emphasized, “I am grateful to be able to work again with 1,500 Seongbuk-gu public officials,” adding, “Seongbuk is overcoming the adversity of COVID-19 and the 8th elected term is a very important time to achieve the vision of a field-centered, livelihood-centered, and mutually happy Seongbuk and to leap toward a new future of 100 years.” He also urged, “Seongbuk’s future cannot be achieved by the will and actions of a few leaders alone, but is realized at the fingertips and footsteps of each of the 1,500 public officials. Let us work together to become an organization that responds to hope.”

Following this, Kim Jong-ho, Director of Planning and Budget Division, gave a presentation on the future and tasks of Seongbuk in the 8th elected term. The six major thematic tasks include ‘Sharing Welfare City’ guaranteeing dense and healthy universal welfare in daily life, ‘Balanced Development Smart City’ for convenient living and no regional alienation, ‘People-Centered Eco-Friendly City’ completing a city where people and nature coexist and where people want to stay, ‘Livelihood Economy Re-leap City’ creating a well-balanced and livable city, ‘Cultural City with Daily Leisure’ where everyone enjoys the pleasures of life, and ‘Seongbuk Pride Autonomous City’ where residents become owners and complete direct democracy. The report also covered the prompt implementation of the 10 major pledges of the 8th elected term such as the construction of public parking lots by authority, expansion of support targets for the Companion Card, construction of Wolgok Comprehensive Sports Center, launch of the Rapid Reconstruction TF, creation of Bukaksan Neighborhood Park, completion of Youth Smart Startup Center, construction of Jangwi-dong Public Cultural Library, establishment of Seongbuk Modern Literature Memorial Hall, construction of Gireum 7 Complex Cultural Complex Center, and operation of Seongbuk Citizen University.

The 8th elected term Seongbuk-gu will promote 80 projects across 6 major fields and 6 major zones under the vision of ‘Field-centered, Livelihood-centered, and Mutually Happy Seongbuk.’