Songpa-gu, First ‘Dialogue with Residents’ of the 8th Elected Term... Continues from January 16 to February 28
Pre-event Performances and Professional MCs Removed, District Mayor Directly Leads ‘Genuine Dialogue’
Sekchon-dong Residents Propose Revitalization of Seokchon Lake West Lake Commercial Area and Expansion of Welfare Facilities
[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, has officially begun a communication campaign visiting residents to practice servant leadership administration.
Mayor Seo stated, “Over the past 180 days, we have laid the foundation of Songpa’s 8th elected term administration with the goal of servant leadership for residents. Now, we will directly meet and communicate with residents, actively reflecting their opinions in district administration to lead new changes and greater development in Songpa.”
This first dialogue session of the 8th elected term carries the district administration vision under the theme ‘A Premium City Story Serving Residents as the Owners.’ Starting from Sekchon-dong on January 16, meetings will continue across all 27 neighborhoods of Songpa-gu until February 28.
Notably, unlike previous formal dialogues centered on the district mayor, this time the sessions were designed as opportunities for residents, as sovereign owners, to fully express their opinions and be heard.
Pre-event cultural performances and professional MCs were removed, and the district mayor directly led the talk-show style conversations, enabling immediate Q&A with residents. Additionally, participation by district office staff or related agencies, except residents, was minimized so that the mayor could fully focus on dialogue with residents.
About 200 residents of Sekchon-dong participated in the first dialogue held at Sekchon Elementary School. Before the main discussion, Mayor Seo drew attention by inviting Kim Sang-woo, the Chairperson of the Resident Autonomy Committee, to the stage as a representative of the residents.
At this session, residents proposed ▲ revitalizing the commercial area of West Lake, which has relatively lost vitality compared to East Lake, through activation of Seokchon Lake East and West Lakes ▲ securing spaces for traditional cultural experiences such as Songpa Sandae Nori ▲ expanding welfare facilities, which are insufficient compared to other areas ▲ and increasing support for heating and cooling costs at senior centers.
Throughout the approximately two-hour dialogue, residents enthusiastically responded with vivid life stories and candid opinions, resulting in continuous applause and laughter, showing strong support for this on-site communication event held for the first time in four years.
Seo Gang-seok, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “To hear residents’ honest opinions vividly on-site, we made the event modest yet substantial and highly participatory. Going forward, we will continue to listen carefully to residents’ stories in various ways, deliberate together, and actively reflect the proposed opinions to carry out district administration created with the residents.”
In addition, the district operates a direct phone line allowing any resident to communicate with the district mayor via text messages, and continuously engages in communication by collecting residents’ opinions through the district office website’s ‘Requests to the District Mayor’ section.
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