Volunteers Walk Through 7 High-Distribution Areas During Enforcement Vulnerable Hours of 6-8 AM and 9-11 PM to Collect Flyers
Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jo Seong-myeong) is making every effort to crack down on illegal sexually explicit flyers, and is introducing early morning volunteer plogging to clean up flyers left on the streets before students go to school.
Since February, the district has doubled the number of enforcement personnel to eradicate illegal sexually explicit flyers, with a total of 10 people divided into two shifts, day and night, conducting continuous inspections around the clock. As a result, 69 flyer distributors have been caught this year alone, and fines totaling 260.9 million KRW have been imposed. Additionally, an automatic warning call system was introduced this year, disabling 804 company phone numbers. However, flyers distributed in the early morning and late at night sometimes remain until morning, causing displeasure among citizens walking the streets during school and work commute hours.
To clean up flyers during these vulnerable times, the district is collaborating with the Gangnam-gu Volunteer Center. Volunteers will walk through seven areas with concentrated flyer distribution, including Garosugil, Yeongdong Market, Gangnam Station, and Seolleung Station, picking up flyers. This is a new attempt to combine plogging?a movement that involves picking up trash while walking or running for environmental protection?with the collection of illegal sexually explicit flyers. The main activity times are from 6 to 8 a.m. and 9 to 11 p.m., but volunteers can participate at other times as well. The program started on October 10 and will be piloted until the end of this year, with plans for future improvements and expansion.
Participants can apply for volunteer work through the 1365 Volunteer Portal. Participation is possible individually or in groups of two or more. Due to the nature of the activity, only adults can apply; youths are not allowed. On the day of the activity, volunteers can have their service hours recognized by taking photos with a time-stamping app on their smartphones. The maximum volunteer time per day is two hours.
Jo Seong-myeong, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “We are mobilizing all administrative power to eradicate illegal sexually explicit flyers, and while sanitation workers clean early in the morning, volunteers can fill in the gaps during vulnerable times. We expect this to help protect youth by cleaning up flyers before students go to school and shielding them from harmful environments.”
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
