Mokpo-si Manho-dong, Promoting Safe Village Creation through Maintenance of Vacant Houses

Improving Residential Environment Maintenance with Manho-dong Saemaeul Association and Saemaeul Women's Association

On the 20th, Mokpo City in Jeollanam-do announced that on the 16th, a public-private joint maintenance of vacant and abandoned houses (hereinafter referred to as 'empty houses') was carried out in Manho-dong.

In Manho-dong, the original downtown area of Mokpo, the population has been decreasing due to aging and low birth rates, resulting in an increasing number of empty houses left unattended in the area, raising concerns about the deterioration of the residential environment and the occurrence of crimes.

Especially during the winter season, there is a risk of fire and other serious safety accidents, such as people entering empty houses to light fires.

Manho-dong Saemaeul Council and Manho-dong Saemaeul Women's Association conducted maintenance activities by going around vacant houses, picking up trash, and attaching no-entry stickers.
[Photo by Mokpo City]

Accordingly, since January of this year, Manho-dong has conducted a survey to maintain empty houses. The Manho-dong Saemaul Association (President Yang Seong-won) and the Manho-dong Saemaul Women's Association (President Park Seon-young) jointly visited empty houses to pick up trash and attach no-entry stickers as part of maintenance activities to prevent safety accidents caused by unauthorized entry into empty houses.

Yang Seong-won, president of the Saemaul Association, and Park Seon-young, president of the Saemaul Women's Association, said, "Abandoned houses posed significant safety and disaster risks to residents, but we are glad that through the members' volunteer work, we could help ensure the safety of residents and the elderly even a little."

Kim Gwang-mi, head of Manho-dong, stated, "The issue of vacant and abandoned houses is serious, but most are private properties, and many owners are unreachable, making management difficult. We will take this maintenance as an opportunity to continue striving for a safe residential environment for residents in the future."