Gwangju Seo-gu Launches On-site Policy Talk 'Chakhan Toktok'

Seo-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (Mayor Kim Ikang) announced on the 14th that it has launched ‘Good Talk Talk,’ a communication platform for residents and policies.

Seo-gu plans to meet with residents focusing on good policies that change their lives, aiming to enhance the execution and perception of these policies.

‘Good Talk Talk’ emphasizes the meaning of conversation (talk) while also conveying the proactive administrative intention of ‘knocking smartly’ to deeply engage with the realities of people’s daily lives.

As the first schedule of Good Talk Talk, Seo-gu held a policy meeting on integrated care in the Seo-gu style on the 13th at the Nongsung Bityeoulchae Comprehensive Social Welfare Center.

About 30 participants, including integrated care service providers and experts from fields such as healthcare, housing, and daily living, attended the meeting to share on-site situations and explore directions for policy development.

In particular, representatives of integrated care service providers unanimously stated, “The satisfaction level is very high regarding receiving diverse and specialized care benefits in the familiar environment where the service recipients have been living,” and “Not only the recipients but also their families’ quality of life has improved.”

Also, experts attending the meeting, including Professor Moon Yongpil of the Department of Public Administration and Welfare at Chosun University, Heo Sukmin, Policy Research Team Leader at Jeonnam Social Service Institute, Choo Wangseok, Director of Gwangju Seo-gu Senior Club, and Yoon Bongran, Chairperson of the Social Cooperative Sallim, emphasized Seo-gu’s leading role.

They said, “With the enactment of the law on integrated support for regional care such as medical and nursing care, all local governments nationwide are required to implement integrated care. Seo-gu’s advanced policies will serve as a milestone for other local governments,” and urged, “Please create a successful model of integrated care by strengthening integrated care organizations and enhancing the capabilities of dedicated public officials.”

Mayor Kim Ikang of Seo-gu said, “We will do our best to establish a ‘Good Cooperation System’ that provides integrated medical and care services so that the elderly can spend a happy and healthy old age where they have lived, and that leads to the creation of various jobs such as social enterprises and senior jobs.”

On the same day, Mayor Kim visited the homes of home medical care recipients to check the progress of services and listen to the opinions of the recipients regarding care satisfaction.

Seo-gu was the first in the nation to open a home medical care center where the elderly can receive both medical and care benefits at home, and currently, about 500 people are receiving visiting medical services.

This is the largest scale among local governments nationwide. Following this, Mayor Kim also visited the ‘Silver Exercise Class by My Side,’ which is operated in connection with the High Vocational Education Hub District project.

Reporter Shin Dongho, Honam Coverage Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr