Yongsan History Museum Operates 'Hahadongdong, Exploring Yongsan'

[Seoul District News] 40 Families with Elementary Students in Yongsan Understand Yongsan's Old Place Names and Origins, Joseon Dynasty Life ... [Photo] Lee Suhee, Gangdong District Mayor, Attends Groundbreaking Ceremony for Hunesion in Godeok Biz Valley Blocks 1-3 ... Geumcheon District Hosts Yeolmu Kimchi Making Event with Families ... Jung District Holds 'Hello Jung! Together Contest' ... Gwanak District Installs Emergency Bells in 20 Women-Owned Stores, Supports 30 Women with Intellectual Disabilities with Wander Detection Devices

Park Hee-young, Mayor of Yongsan District, is inspecting the exhibition status at Yongsan History Museum on the 2nd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Yongsan-gu (District Mayor Park Hee-young) will operate a family-oriented experience program, ‘Haha Dongdong, Yongsan Exploration,’ starting from the 10th.

This activity will be held four times in total, each lasting 2 hours (10 a.m. to 12 p.m.) on August 10, 12, 17, and 19, targeting 40 families with elementary school students visiting the Yongsan History Museum (35-29 Hangang-daero 14-gil) during summer vacation.

‘Haha Dongdong, Yongsan Exploration’ is an experiential activity designed to learn about the old place names and origins of Yongsan as shown on the maps ‘Joseon Seongsido’ and ‘Gyeongjo Obudo.’ Participants can understand the lifestyle of people during the Joseon Dynasty through large maps and crossword puzzles featuring old village names.

Applications can be made through the Yongsan History Museum website. The first round of recruitment closed on the 1st, and additional recruitment will begin on August 3.

The district renovated the Old Yongsan Railroad Hospital (Registered Cultural Heritage No. 428, completed in 1928) into the Yongsan History Museum and opened it to the public on March 23. The two-story building with a total floor area of 2,275㎡ offers various themed exhibitions and experiences, as well as a rooftop garden where visitors can enjoy a panoramic view of Yongsan and relax.

Mayor Park Hee-young of Yongsan-gu visited the Yongsan History Museum for the first time since taking office on the 2nd. Mayor Park stayed at the museum for about an hour, touring the facilities and checking the status of permanent and special exhibitions.

Mayor Park Hee-young said, “It is rare for a basic local government to operate a local history museum,” adding, “I hope the director and staff take pride and raise the status of the Yongsan History Museum.”

Lee Soo-hee, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Hunesion, which will be built on Block 1-3 of Godeok Biz Valley, at 11 a.m. on the 2nd.

The ceremony, held at the Hunesion office construction site, was attended by about 40 Hunesion executives and employees and was conducted simply. Mayor Lee Soo-hee joined the event with hopes for the success of Godeok Biz Valley, a core project to strengthen Gangdong-gu’s self-sufficiency functions.

In her congratulatory speech, Mayor Lee Soo-hee said, “Congratulations on the construction of Hunesion’s Godeok Biz Valley office. We will do our best for the mutual development of Gangdong-gu and Hunesion.” She also emphasized that safety is the top priority during the construction period.

Godeok Biz Valley, developed on 345 Godeok-dong with an area of 234,523㎡, is actively under construction on 17 out of 25 self-sufficiency facility sites.

Companies will begin moving in this year. On July 11, KX Group moved in, and Shinra Trading, RF Tech, and Dodram Pig Farming Cooperative are also scheduled to move in this year.

Mayor Lee Soo-hee said, “Godeok Biz Valley is a key driving force for Gangdong-gu to shed its image as a bedroom town and become an economic hub encompassing eastern Seoul,” adding, “We will spare no support to ensure companies complete their move-in quickly.”

Geumcheon-gu (District Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) held a ‘Making Young Radish Kimchi with Family’ event on the 2nd at the Urban Agriculture Experience Center located at 332 Haan-dong, Gwangmyeong City, with about 100 local residents participating.

This experience event used about 50kg of young radish harvested directly from the Geumcheon Urban Agriculture Experience Center’s Gwangmyeong Farm and was conducted with talent donations from volunteer groups such as Siheung 3-dong Volunteer Camp.

Residents participated as families with children and enjoyed making kimchi together.

Before the event, the Geumcheon-gu Family Center performance team presented a Nanta performance, delighting the eyes and ears of participants tired from the heat.

Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon of Geumcheon-gu said, “I hope this event allowed residents exhausted by the heat to create good memories with their families, even if only for a short time,” adding, “We plan to hold a kimchi-making experience again in November when the cabbage grows well, and we hope for many participants then as well.”

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Kim Gil-sung) is hosting the ‘Hello Jung-gu! Together Contest’ to discover policies that improve residents’ living conditions based on creative ideas directly proposed by the citizens.

The contest is organized in collaboration with Dongguk University Campus Town Project Group, and applications are open until the 10th. Anyone interested in the area, including youth, university students, and (prospective) entrepreneurs who are residents of Jung-gu, can participate. Applications can be submitted by scanning the QR code on the announcement poster and filling out the online application form.

The district is looking for brilliant ideas in five categories: education, culture, safety, housing, and environment. In addition, suggestions for improvements to various everyday problems or creative ideas that contribute to the development of Jung-gu are welcome.

This contest is especially meaningful as it is resident-led and aims to change the village environment. Increasingly, interesting policy content is being discovered from residents’ ideas in daily life and applied to policies.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, residents’ ideas enabled a non-face-to-face content festival where bean sprouts were grown at home and donated to share warmth with neighbors, and actively supported non-face-to-face sales in traditional markets to revitalize commercial districts.

Submitted ideas will be evaluated through document and face-to-face assessments, and awards will be presented on the 26th at Eulji Unique Factory. Fifteen teams will be selected: one grand prize, two excellence awards, five merit awards, and seven encouragement awards. Winners will receive certificates signed by the head of Dongguk University Campus Town Project Group and prize money, and will receive additional points when applying for Dongguk University Campus Town resident companies in the future.

For more details, visit the Seoul Campus Town website or scan the QR code on the announcement poster.

Mayor Kim Gil-sung of Jung-gu said, “The diverse voices and ideas of residents can create a better tomorrow for Jung-gu,” and asked for “much interest and participation in this contest.”

Gwanak-gu (District Mayor Park Jun-hee) will support emergency bells for women’s single-person stores and wandering detectors for women with intellectual disabilities through the ‘Women’s Safe Village Creation Project.’

Reflecting the regional characteristic of having the highest proportion of single-woman households nationwide at 28.7%, Gwanak-gu is establishing itself as a ‘women-friendly city’ through various policies such as the ‘Women’s Safe Village Creation Project.’

The Women’s Safe Village Creation Project aims to realize ‘women’s happiness and safety’ by supporting the installation of safety equipment such as safe home sets and emergency bells for women living alone in Gwanak-gu.

The district recently launched an emergency bell installation project to prevent crimes occurring in ‘women’s single-person stores.’ The emergency bell allows immediate communication with the Gwanak-gu Integrated Control Center in case of an emergency and connects to 112 for urgent dispatch.

Notably, the emergency bell can detect emergencies through voice activation by shouting “Help!” so there is no need to press a button, enabling quick reporting.

So far, emergency bells have been installed in 101 stores, and an additional 20 stores will be equipped this year. Any store operated solely by a female owner can apply year-round.

The district also promotes a wandering detector support project for women with intellectual disabilities. The wandering detector allows real-time location tracking via a smartphone app and sends an alarm to guardians if the wearer leaves a designated area, providing peace of mind against missing incidents.

Applications are open until the 9th and are available to female youths aged 12 to 39 with intellectual or autism spectrum disabilities or borderline intellectual disabilities. Priority is given to basic livelihood security recipients and low-income groups, with support for a total of 30 people.

Those wishing to receive emergency bell or wandering detector support can apply by visiting their local community service center or the Women and Family Division of the district office, or by referring to the announcement on the district office website’s news and notices section and submitting the application via email or fax.

The district plans to continue promoting various women-friendly city projects in all fields, enhancing women’s safety, creating women-friendly family environments, and expanding women’s social participation.

Mayor Park Jun-hee said, “As the pace of social change accelerates, various community efforts for women’s safety have become urgently necessary,” adding, “We will do our best to create a ‘crime-free women’s safety city’ so that women’s anxiety and risks related to crime disappear.”