"Job-Seeking Support Allowance for Career-Interrupted Fathers"… Proposal from Seoul City Officials

Seoul City to Hold Second Creative Presentation of the Year
Ideas Include Expanding Walkways Around Construction Sites

Seoul city officials have announced a series of 'creative administration' proposals, including expanding the job-seeking support allowance?previously available only to women who experienced career interruptions due to childcare?to fathers as well.

On June 25 at 10 a.m., Seoul City will hold the '2025 2nd Creative Presentation' at the multipurpose hall of Seoul City Hall, attended by around 300 people including citizens, expert evaluation panels, and public officials. The Creative Presentation is a platform for sharing creative administrative ideas, where all city officials, including the mayor, identify and address citizen inconveniences from new perspectives.

At the event, 10 proposals?selected through a citizen vote from among 701 submissions received from members of Seoul City, district offices, and affiliated institutions over April and May?will be unveiled. Unlike previous presentations, which were attended only by public officials, this time citizens will also participate and directly take part in the evaluation process.

Notable proposals include: expanding the job-seeking support allowance for women with career interruptions due to childcare to also cover men; widening roadways around construction sites to improve accessibility for mobility-impaired individuals; and collecting unused tumblers, cleaning and redesigning them, and distributing them to public welfare facilities.

After each proposal is presented, a panel of 10 experts and 100 citizen evaluators will judge the entries on the spot to determine the winners. Scores will be weighted 70% from experts and 30% from citizens, with one grand prize, one top excellence award, three excellence awards, and three encouragement awards being selected.

The city has been actively implementing creative administration since 2023. To date, over 5,600 ideas have been submitted, with 123 of them adopted as actual policies. Notable examples include the subway transfer system allowing reboarding within 15 minutes, and the 'Onki Changko' shelters for single-room residents, with the third branch recently opened in Yeongdeungpo.

Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon stated, "We are constantly striving to create a better city, and the starting point is not grand plans but an attitude that never overlooks even the smallest inconvenience encountered on site. We value the creative initiatives and problem awareness of our public officials aimed at making citizens happier, and we will lead change together with citizens."