Seungro Lee, Seongbuk District Mayor, Visits 'On-site Mayor's Office' to Praise District Office Staff: A Senior's Story?

Seungro Lee, Seongbuk-gu Mayor, to Operate First 'One-Day On-Site Mayor's Office' of the 8th Elected Term from October 27 to November 16... Continuing from the 7th Term, Listening to Local Issues and Seeking Solutions with Residents in the Field

Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk District, is expressing gratitude to Kyunghwa Lee (Wolgok 1-dong) for her interest and actions in the community, while asking for more civil complaints.

Despite being a resident of a different neighborhood, the Wolgok 2-dong Field District Office Chief's Office

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seung-ro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, continues to draw attention with the 'One-Day On-Site Mayor's Office' initiative, carried out in the 8th term following the 7th term.

The On-Site Mayor's Office is a campaign pledged by Mayor Seung-ro Lee of Seongbuk-gu, aimed at listening to local issues directly within the community and seeking solutions together with residents.

Mayor Seung-ro Lee visits one neighborhood each day, engaging with residents from early morning until late at night to collaboratively find answers, enabling more direct communication between the administration and the community. On average, about 200 residents from the respective neighborhood participate in the on-site sessions.

Seongbuk-gu established a real-time streaming system via YouTube to overcome the limitations of face-to-face events during the COVID-19 pandemic surge. Any interested resident can watch without location restrictions and communicate through real-time chat, with about 10,000 residents connecting per session, marking an innovation in communication between the administration and residents.

The first On-Site Mayor's Office of the 8th term started on October 27 and is ongoing until November 16. Since each of the 20 neighborhoods addresses its unique concerns as well as common life issues in real time, residents show high interest and each session generates significant buzz. A representative example is the story of the 'Master of Complaints' from the Wolgok 2-dong session held on the 4th.

The protagonist is Ms. Kyung-hwa Lee (72). Although she resides in the Prugio Apartments in Wolgok 1-dong and is not a resident of Wolgok 2-dong, she visited the Wolgok 2-dong On-Site Mayor's Office to express something important. Her story is as follows: Ms. Lee manages her health daily through exercise and walks at Odong Neighborhood Park, and whenever she notices deteriorated stairs, trash, or abandoned motorcycles, she meticulously reports them to the district office. As the apartment residents' representative, she volunteered out of a spirit of service, but her actions were also for the benefit of all users of Odong Park, regardless of age or gender. However, she was somewhat worried that the responsible officials might find her reports bothersome. Contrary to her concerns, the staff of the Seongbuk-gu Parks and Greenery Division promptly inspected and responded to the site on weekdays and weekends. Ms. Lee visited the neighboring district's On-Site Mayor's Office to express her gratitude to the Parks and Greenery Division, including Officer Dong-young Kim, who quietly improved residents' inconveniences for about a year.

Upon hearing the story, Mayor Seung-ro Lee of Seongbuk-gu said, “On behalf of the administration, I extend thanks and respect to the Parks and Greenery Division and the responsible officer who diligently worked to resolve residents' inconveniences.” He added, “Moreover, in a situation where many people do not care who their neighbors are or assume someone else will handle local issues or that officials will take care of them, Ms. Kyung-hwa Lee, who actively communicates and shares opinions out of love for her neighborhood, is truly essential for the development of Seongbuk-gu.”

Kim Byung-wan, Director of the Parks and Greenery Division, who was present at the site, responded to Ms. Lee’s praise by saying, “Since the work of the Parks and Greenery Division mainly involves long-term projects that are not immediately visible and do not show instant results to residents, it is rare to receive such compliments, so it feels like all our hard work has been rewarded.” Kim Sung-ki, Head of the Park Planning Team, also said, “Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of forests and parks as sources of comfort and healing in our lives has increased, so we will do our best to provide Seongbuk residents with a healthier and happier daily life.”

Officer Dong-young Kim, who was watching the real-time On-Site Mayor's Office from the office to verify residents' proposals, recalled Ms. Lee’s first complaint last December and said, “When I visited the site, the wooden stairs were significantly deteriorated, which was expected to cause inconvenience to residents. Thanks to Ms. Kyung-hwa Lee’s proactive reporting, we were able to respond in advance and protect residents' safety.” He expressed gratitude, saying, “Thanks to her consistent interest and feedback throughout about a year during the maintenance project of Odong Neighborhood Park, not only was the Odong Neighborhood Park key playground project successfully completed, but it has also become known as a safe and pleasant walking trail, attracting many visitors already.”

Ms. Kim *mi (48), a resident of Wolgok 2-dong who was at the site, said, “It feels sincere to see that instead of residents going to the district office, the mayor and officials come to where the residents are, directly answer proposals and complaints clearly, and prepare alternative solutions if immediate resolution is difficult.” She added, “I can fully understand the feelings of a neighboring district resident visiting our neighborhood’s On-Site Mayor's Office.”

As of now, 15 out of the 20 neighborhoods have completed the 2022 On-Site Mayor's Office of the 8th term in Seongbuk-gu, with 5 neighborhoods remaining. Major resident proposals account for about 70% in the areas of traffic and living environment improvements, followed by suggestions for road environment improvements and renovation of aging facilities. There has also been steady demand for the installation of eco-friendly smart road heating systems, a representative project of Seongbuk-gu with high resident satisfaction. The recent rise in safety awareness is also reflected in the proposals, with notable suggestions for women’s safe return paths, CCTV, and LED floor traffic lights. Additionally, requests for electric vehicle charging stations have surged due to the increase in electric vehicles. Residents' proposals are prioritized as the top tasks of the 8th term and the progress is promptly and transparently disclosed through the Seongbuk-gu district office website and other channels.

The Seongbuk-gu One-Day On-Site Mayor's Office also enables real-time communication through the Seongbuk-gu Office YouTube channel ‘SeongbukTV.’ The progress of residents' proposals is transparently disclosed via the Seongbuk-gu website and other platforms.