Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor, "We Will Build a City Where No One Feels Lonely"

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong District, said, "We will expand the value of inclusion to create a city where everyone supports each other and no one feels lonely."

He also stated that he will first understand the hearts of all residents facing difficulties, including people with disabilities, low-income groups, women, and socially isolated youth, and complete a more detailed welfare safety net.

Mayor Jung made this pledge in his 2014 New Year's address.

He emphasized that they will build a ‘Seongdong-style daily living zone’ where essential functions of life such as culture, leisure, care, and public services can be enjoyed more easily and closely.

The following is the New Year's address

Dear residents of Seongdong District!

The year 2024, Gapjin Year (甲辰年), has dawned.

Happy New Year.

As we welcome the year of the Blue Dragon, symbolizing dynamic takeoff and leap,

may all residents achieve what they wish for,

and may the new year be filled only with happiness.

Last year was a time when we worked hard to get closer to the lives of residents,

bringing about changes that are more tangible and meeting a newer tomorrow.

We inspected and improved the safety of hazardous dwellings such as semi-basement houses and laid the institutional foundation for becoming an inclusive housing city.

The long-awaited ready-mixed concrete plant site was demolished and cleaned up, transforming into a cultural and artistic space.

The essential worker support roadmap, announced for the first time nationwide, marked the beginning of respecting the labor value of essential workers who are indispensable in our society, and the smart smoking booths and crime prevention systems on walking trails

became exemplary close-to-life administrative policies that prevent social conflicts and crimes using smart technology.

Unauthorized shops in Majang-dong food alley, which faced many difficulties due to a sudden fire, were reborn as Seongdong-style safe stores through sincere dialogue, and the expansion of sustainable development zones and the ‘Creative×Seongsu’ festival concretized the vision for sustainable urban development and leap to a smart cultural city.

All these achievements were possible because residents trusted and always strongly supported Seongdong District. In a survey conducted last year, 94.7% of residents said, ‘Seongdong District is doing well,’ showing full confidence in the district administration.

We thank all residents who have been with us with unwavering hearts.

Dear residents of Seongdong District!

Seongdong District, once a symbol of Seoul’s old downtown and deteriorated environment, is now a thing of the past. It has transformed into a highly sought-after residential area, even regarded as one of Seoul’s representative affluent neighborhoods, and the living environment in Seongdong has changed so much that living here has become a source of pride.

However, with urban growth and development come greater responsibilities and duties. It is time to look around once more to see if there are places where inequality and alienation have taken root because the fruits of change and growth have not been evenly distributed.

In 2024, the Gapjin Year!

Seongdong will once again talk about ‘inclusion.’ We will focus all district administration capabilities toward a city of coexistence where everyone lives together, not a city where only some live well alone, a happy and inclusive city.

First, we will expand the value of inclusion to create a city where everyone supports each other and no one feels lonely.

Based on the first nationwide enacted ordinance supporting hazardous dwellings, we will systematically carry out improvement projects for vulnerable housing spaces. We will respect housing rights to ensure that the minimum standards for maintaining the most basic functions of a home, which can be a precious resting place for me and my family, are upheld. We will strengthen the model of an inclusive housing city through improvements of semi-basement housing environments, repairs for vulnerable groups, and projects such as rooftop and goshiwon cool roofs.

In the aging era, we will create more advanced care policies unique to Seongdong District that meet the increasingly diverse needs of seniors. We will build a new local care system for seniors so that all elderly people, including those with fragile health and those who want jobs, social participation, and vibrant retirement life, can be respected, protected, and enjoy joyful daily lives.

Following the essential worker support roadmap, this year we will start allowance support projects for essential workers such as care workers and village bus drivers. We will take a step closer to becoming an inclusive city of jobs where the value of labor is respected and workers’ rights are better protected.

Furthermore, we will first understand the hearts of all residents facing difficulties, including people with disabilities, low-income groups, women, and socially isolated youth, and complete a more detailed welfare safety net.

Second, we will build a ‘Seongdong-style daily living zone’ where essential functions of life such as culture, leisure, care, and public services can be enjoyed more easily and closely.

The goal is to create a pleasant and safe neighborhood where commercial and medical facilities, cultural facilities, and parks can be conveniently accessed on foot, by bicycle, or by village bus anywhere in Seongdong. If this is achieved, we will be freer from the stress that the city brings, and Seongdong, where we live, will become a richer and more valuable space.

We will hold festivals throughout the four seasons, expand small libraries and unmanned smart libraries so that culture is always close to daily life, and increase gardens where people can take light walks. Stable support for village bus operation and promotion of bicycle use will make urban mobility more convenient.

Third, integrating advanced technology into residents’ daily lives through smart, close-to-life policies is also an important task.

Seongdong’s smart shelters, crosswalks, and smart smoking booths have become representative close-to-life policies that other regions nationwide eagerly learn from. This year, we will further expand smart shelters and smoking booths to enhance convenience and satisfaction in daily life.

We will actively use smart technology for crime prevention based on abnormal motives, crowd management, and more to protect residents’ daily lives more safely and create a city where people can live with peace of mind from various disasters.

Fourth, to become Seoul’s best city, we will concretize a mid- to long-term plan that will serve as the blueprint for Seongdong’s future over the next 30 years and make it an unwavering development strategy for the district.

We will make the four major leap projects, which create specialized towns by region using economy, administration, education, and culture as development engines, and the four major center projects, a balanced development strategy tailored to regional characteristics, more concrete and enhance execution power to prepare clearer plans.

We will design the future more meticulously and transparently so that no one worries that Seongdong’s development and growth will suddenly stop.

Additionally, the Seongsu IT Industrial Development Promotion Zone will be expanded into a future cultural convergence industry zone to maintain a business-friendly environment and increase the influx of large corporations and unicorn companies to add vitality to the city. We will also strive to ensure that various development projects, including the Sampo site pre-negotiations and Seongsu strategic maintenance district redevelopment, help nurture Seongdong’s tomorrow from the residents’ perspective.

Dear residents!

The economic outlook this year is bleak. High prices, high interest rates, and global inflation, along with unstable international affairs, continue to pose challenges.

The climate crisis and normalization of disasters, low growth and social polarization, population decline, and generational conflicts remain risk factors standing like obstacles.

At times like these, we will return to our original mindset. With the “100 Promises to Change Seongdong,” we will return to the heart we had when we first greeted residents and tighten our shoelaces again toward ‘a better Seongdong to live in, an inclusive city where everyone is happy.’ We will communicate more, devote ourselves more deeply, and move forward with a more daring spirit of innovation.

We will always be by your side to support you this year as well. In the Gapjin New Year, I wish all residents’ families health and happiness. Happy New Year. Thank you.

January 1, 2024

Seongdong District Mayor Jung Won-oh