Yuseonghoon, Geumcheon District Mayor, Holds 'On-site Mayor's Day' at G-Valley

[Seoul Autonomous District News] Yuseonghun, Geumcheon-gu Mayor, Discusses Economic and Job Policies under the Theme 'Creating a G-Valley Good for Business and Work' & Listens to Businesspeople's Difficulties & Implements Field Administration in Various Areas Including Youth Policy, Realizing a Prestigious Education City, Urban Planning and Regeneration, Parking Issues... Jongno-gu and Geochang-gun Form Sister City Partnership to Cooperate on Education and Youth Job Creation... 2022 Seongbuk-gu Resident Autonomy School Successfully Completed... Dobong-gu Receives Highest Grade (A) for Two Consecutive Years as the Only Domestic Participant in the International Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “We will carry out on-site administration reflecting the vivid and diverse voices of residents.”

Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said this while operating the ‘1st On-site District Mayor’s Day’ on the 17th.

The ‘On-site District Mayor’s Day’ was planned to vividly capture the voices from the field across the entire district administration, starting with major pending projects, to reduce the gap between the desired image of Geumcheon-gu by residents and reality.

The 1st On-site District Mayor’s Day was held under the theme of ‘Creating a G-Valley that is good for business and good to work in.’ It expressed the determination of all departments to unite and make every effort for G-Valley, Seoul’s largest industrial complex and cradle of startups, to leap forward as a ‘4th Industrial Revolution Convergence Urban Industrial Complex’ in the world.

The On-site District Mayor’s Day was divided into two parts.

In the first part, Yoo Seong-hoon visited the G-Valley Startup Welfare Center and the Seoul Western Middle-aged Job Hope Center of the Korea Labor Foundation.

At the G-Valley Startup Welfare Center, he listened to the operation details of facilities within the center such as the Seoul Youth Center (Geumcheon Orang), the Southwest Workplace Mom Support Center, the Startup Cube Community Facility, and the IoT Technology Support Center. At the Seoul Western Middle-aged Job Hope Center, he shared concerns about policies for creating jobs for middle-aged people.

In the second part, a ‘Business Meeting for Creating a G-Valley that is Good for Business and Good to Work In’ was held with 12 G-Valley entrepreneurs including Jeong Deuk-su, president of the Geumcheon-gu Chamber of Commerce, to listen to their wishes and questions about overall district administration and discuss development directions together.

Geumcheon-gu plans to continue operating the ‘On-site District Mayor’s Day’ to jointly consider everyday issues such as ▲youth policies ▲realization of a prestigious educational city ▲urban planning and urban regeneration ▲expansion of green infrastructure ▲parking problems ▲waste and environmental issues to improve residents’ quality of life.

In addition, Geumcheon-gu is striving to implement communication administration with residents by operating a dedicated mobile phone for direct text messages from the district mayor.

Yoo Seong-hoon, Mayor of Geumcheon-gu, said, “On-site administration that listens to and practices residents’ stories is the key to achieving district administration goals,” adding, “I will get closer to residents, listen carefully, and personally take care of even small matters related to the community.”

Jongno-gu (Mayor Jeong Mun-heon) will sign a ‘Sister City Agreement’ with Geochang-gun at the district office’s planning situation room on the 22nd.

Through this agreement, they aim to discover joint policy tasks across various fields such as education, jobs, culture, and tourism, continuously exchange, and seek mutual development plans.

In particular, they plan to provide abundant learning opportunities by linking excellent young mentors trained through the ‘Future Education Youth Job Platform,’ a core project of the 8th local government, with students from the sister city.

Jongno-gu’s Future Education Youth Job Platform is a differentiated education and job model unique to Jongno, combining English-specialized classes using an online international school and the concept of Seodang (traditional Korean village school).

Before conducting classes for youth, the district supports young people’s capacity building in English-specialized education and instructor training. Young people who complete the education will become global mentors guiding youth by utilizing the character and etiquette education method of Seodang after completing the online international school program and overseas university major lectures.

Moreover, the Jongno-gu-Geochang-gun sister city agreement is noteworthy for establishing a solid cooperative system in culture and tourism. In particular, it has become possible to develop various tourism programs themed on Hanok (traditional Korean houses), such as Geochang-gun’s Hwangsan Goga Hanok Village, which has continued for nearly 500 years, and Bukchon, a traditional Hanok residential area representing Seoul.

Also, leveraging Jongno’s characteristic as the center of performing arts in Korea with over 140 small theaters, they will conduct exchange projects based on theater. Various performance projects are expected to gain momentum based on the ‘Geochang International Theater Festival,’ which introduces excellent domestic and international plays, and Jongno’s representative festival D-FESTA.

A historical exploration program themed on the March 1st Movement is also planned. Jongno, where various historical traces remain clearly including Tapgol Park where the March 1st Independence Declaration was read, and Geochang-gun, where the Wolseong militia and the 1919 Paris Letter Movement took place, have joined forces to promote nationwide commemorative projects.

Mayor Jeong Mun-heon said, “Jongno-gu and Geochang-gun share many commonalities including education projects, theater festivals, and Hanok villages,” adding, “We expect mutual development in education and jobs through this sister city agreement.”

Seongbuk-gu Donam 2-dong Resident Autonomy School

Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) successfully completed the ‘2022 Seongbuk-gu Resident Autonomy School’ held for residents applying to be members of the 2nd term resident autonomy committees in 10 neighborhoods.

The Resident Autonomy School, held from November 1 to 19, was conducted in a total of 22 sessions during daytime and nighttime, weekdays and weekends, to allow more residents to participate.

Especially, this education was conducted as face-to-face, discussion-centered sessions where instructors and residents exchanged opinions and communicated, including ▲Lecture 1: Understanding Resident Autonomy and Resident Autonomy Projects ▲Lecture 2: Decision-making Workshop and Mock Communication Workshop, which drew active responses from residents and increased understanding and interest in resident autonomy.

Also, due to the increasing importance of first aid for safety accident prevention, CPR safety education was conducted before the training to enhance response capabilities in emergencies and strengthen citizens’ awareness of safety.

The neighborhoods where the 2nd term resident autonomy committees will be formed in 2023 are ▲Donam 1-dong ▲Donam 2-dong ▲Anam-dong ▲Jeongneung 1-dong ▲Jeongneung 3-dong ▲Jeongneung 4-dong ▲Gireum 2-dong ▲Wolgok 1-dong ▲Jangwi 2-dong ▲Jangwi 3-dong. After a public lottery for selecting committee members among residents who completed the Resident Autonomy School by December, they will be appointed as committee members from January 1, 2023, and will serve for two years.

Lee Seung-ro, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, said, “I deeply thank all residents who enthusiastically participated in the Resident Autonomy School. Since residents’ interest in resident autonomy is high, we will continue to support Seongbuk-gu to become the most exemplary case of resident autonomy nationwide.”

Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) signed a business agreement on the 16th with the Gangnam Seocho Office of Education, Gangnam Police Station, Suseo Police Station, and Gangnam Fire Station (hereinafter referred to as the 4 major related organizations) to strengthen the system for discovering vulnerable households in welfare blind spots.

The district has been cooperating with the 4 major related organizations in discovering vulnerable households, and this business agreement further solidifies the roles and cooperation of each organization. The main agreement contents include ▲discovering and reporting vulnerable households ▲linking and supporting welfare services for vulnerable households ▲information sharing and collaboration for discovering vulnerable households.

Specifically, the roles of each organization are ▲Gangnam-gu quickly supports vulnerable households reported by each organization and provides welfare information to partner organizations. ▲Gangnam Seocho Office of Education identifies signs of risk such as neglect, abuse, and long-term absenteeism among students and reports them, promoting welfare services through home correspondence. ▲Gangnam Police Station and Suseo Police Station report vulnerable households found during patrols and incident handling and support emergency situations during visits to high-risk households. ▲Gangnam Fire Station reports vulnerable households found during rescue activities and incident handling and actively cooperates in emergency rescue activities for households at risk of solitary death and vulnerable groups.

The district expects that by establishing a cooperative system with related organizations that meet residents at the frontline, it will greatly help to discover residents in crisis early and provide prompt support, thereby resolving welfare blind spots.

Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “This business agreement has strengthened the community safety net that can quickly discover and support welfare blind spots through various channels,” adding, “We will do our best to find vulnerable households early and provide timely customized services so that no resident suffers.”

Dobong-gu (Mayor Oh Eon-seok) was the only city in Korea to be selected for the highest ‘A grade’ for two consecutive years in 2021 and 2022 in the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) evaluation.

The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) is a UK-based non-profit international organization that provides an international system for measuring, disclosing, managing, and sharing essential environmental information for companies and cities worldwide.

Currently, about 9,600 companies and 1,000 cities worldwide are members, and based on this, CDP is the most extensive and credible carbon information disclosure platform collecting climate change data.

Dobong-gu has participated in this project since 2020 as a signatory of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), which it joined in 2019.

The CDP evaluation process and grading criteria are very strict. To receive an A grade, an entity must pass rigorous standards across 5 modules, 20 categories, and 40 items, including ▲climate issue management, governance, and cooperation ▲climate change risk and vulnerability assessment ▲greenhouse gas emissions inventory ▲climate change adaptation and mitigation targets ▲climate action plans and consumption-based emissions management ▲results of adaptation and mitigation actions. Since grades are newly assigned each year through evaluation, maintaining the highest grade continuously is difficult. This year, 42% were newly awarded A grades.

This evaluation was conducted on 1,002 cities worldwide, including 22 in Korea, and assigned 8 grades from A to D(-) based on scores. About 12% (122 cities) received the highest A grade, with 14 in Asia.

In Korea, Dobong-gu was the only basic local government to receive an A grade, while Seoul and Daegu received it among metropolitan governments. Dobong-gu achieved the feat of receiving the highest grade for two consecutive years following its unique A grade in 2021.

In the evaluation, Dobong-gu received high scores for ▲establishing a greenhouse gas inventory ▲greenhouse gas reduction performance ▲analysis of climate change vulnerability and implementation of adaptation measures ▲the concreteness and feasibility of the ‘Dobong-gu Climate Change Response Plan’ established in March 2022.

The organizers commented on Dobong-gu, “Your city is a fantastic example of such sorely needed climate leadership. We greatly look forward to Dobong-gu’s dedication to achieving carbon neutrality in the international community.”

Separately from this CDP evaluation, Dobong-gu aims to earn ‘implementation badges’ in all six categories in the ‘2022 Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM)’ signatory evaluation.

Oh Eon-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu, said, “I am pleased and feel a sense of responsibility to receive the highest grade in urban climate crisis response evaluation from the world’s most credible institution. We will continue to contribute to achieving carbon neutrality as a global city leading climate crisis response together with residents.”

Details on A-grade cities can be found on the CDP website (www.cdp.net).