Chuseok Comprehensive Measures: 4 Areas, 16 Tasks
Strengthening Emergency Medical Response... Operating 69 Locations
Free Meals for Vulnerable Groups Provided During Holidays
Seoul City will operate hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies at 1.5 times the scale of last Lunar New Year in preparation for the upcoming Chuseok holiday. The last train times for public transportation will be extended and additional services will be provided, and free meals will be continuously offered to vulnerable groups during the holiday period.
On the 5th, Seoul City announced that it will implement the "2024 Chuseok Comprehensive Measures" from the 13th to the 19th. The comprehensive plan consists of 16 tasks across four major areas: citizen safety, traffic measures, livelihood stabilization, and living environment. Five task forces will also be formed to respond to emergencies that may occur during the holiday. A "Comprehensive Situation Room" will be set up on the first floor of City Hall to oversee the 24-hour task forces.
First, to strengthen emergency medical response, 49 emergency medical institutions and 20 hospitals with emergency rooms in Seoul will operate 24 hours as usual. The number of hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies open during the holiday has been expanded to about 1,800, 1.5 times the scale of this year’s Lunar New Year. District health centers and municipal hospitals will also form "emergency medical teams" to treat mild patients from the 14th to the 18th. District health centers will provide internal medicine and family medicine services for at least three days during the holiday and will operate essential services on Chuseok day.
To ensure food safety, by the 6th, traditional markets and small to medium-sized marts will collect agricultural and marine products such as dried yellow corvina and croaker used for ancestral rites and gifts, inspecting for heavy metals, tar dyes, and compliance with safety standards.
To prepare for disaster situations, a 24-hour disaster safety situation room will also operate during the holiday. The situation room will establish a system for disseminating and responding to disasters occurring during the holiday, managing natural disasters such as heavy rain, typhoons, and earthquakes, as well as social disasters including fires and traffic accidents.
Traffic Measures to Prevent Inconvenience for Returning Travelers
On Chuseok day and the following day, when citizens returning from their hometowns are expected to be concentrated, the last train and city bus times will be extended. The last trains on subway lines 1 to 9, Ui-Sinseol Line, and Sillim Line will arrive at their terminal stations by 2 a.m. the next day, with a total of 121 additional runs per day. For buses, departure times will be adjusted so that the last buses heading toward terminal stations at five major train stations including Seoul Station, as well as the Express Bus Terminal, Dong Seoul Terminal, and Nambu Terminal, pass through by 2 a.m. the next day.
On the 13th and 18th, the days before and after the holiday when vehicle congestion is expected, illegal parking and stopping will be monitored around six major train stations and terminals: Seoul Station, Yongsan Station, Yeongdeungpo Station, Cheongnyangni Station, Express Bus Terminal, and Dong Seoul Terminal. Illegal taxis violating refusal of rides and empty taxi light regulations will also be monitored and guided on-site.
Support for Vulnerable Groups and Relief of Price Burden During the Holiday
Support for vulnerable groups and measures to ease the price burden will be implemented to stabilize livelihoods during the Chuseok holiday.
Before the holiday, Seoul Metropolitan Food Bank Center will provide low-income households with food and daily necessities worth approximately 190 million KRW. Free meals will be continuously provided during the holiday to low-income seniors aged 60 and over and children at risk of food insecurity. To this end, Seoul City will monitor the operation status of meal service providers and secure alternative means such as lunchbox provision in advance. For vulnerable seniors receiving basic national livelihood security benefits and households at risk of solitary death, the city plans to actively check on their well-being through phone calls and visits.
To reduce the burden of holiday shopping, the supply of 10 major seasonal products including apples, pears, and croaker will be expanded to about 105% of the average transaction volume over the past three years. The "Seoul Love Gift Certificate" worth 362.9 billion KRW for Chuseok is also being issued at a 5% discount. When using the Seoul Love Gift Certificate at Good Price Stores, the cashback amount will be temporarily increased from 5% to 15% from the 9th to the 22nd.
Additionally, to minimize illegal garbage disposal during the holiday, each district will inform residents of garbage collection days in advance, and garbage collected before the holiday will be processed as quickly as possible. Patrol teams will be concentrated in areas prone to illegal dumping such as heavily used public places, and environmental officers will work special shifts.
Kim Tae-gyun, Director of Planning and Coordination at Seoul City, said, "We have established a disaster prevention and response system and maintained a 24-hour emergency medical system to ensure that Seoul citizens and travelers can have a comfortable and safe Chuseok. We will make every effort to ensure that all citizens can spend a peaceful Chuseok, including providing special care for vulnerable and marginalized groups."
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