White-Bearded, Red-Clad Mayor... Park Hyungjun of Busan Transforms into "One-Day Santa" at Child Care Facility

Delivering Christmas Gifts, Sharing the Warmth of Community Values

Park Hyungjun, Mayor of Busan, will transform into Santa Claus for a day. Ahead of Christmas, he will visit a child care facility to spend warm moments with the children.

The Busan Metropolitan Government (Mayor Park Hyungjun) announced that on December 24, the day before Christmas, at 3:30 p.m., Mayor Park will act as a "one-day Santa" and visit Dongsanwon, a child care facility located in Suyeong-gu, to deliver Christmas gifts to the children. On this day, Mayor Park will greet the children and share the meaning of community with them.

Mayor Park will tour the facility’s living environment, express his gratitude to the staff for their hard work, and listen to on-site feedback regarding child care and support policies for children under protection. Through this, he plans to emphasize the importance of comprehensive care and support for the healthy growth and independence of children in protection.

Dongsanwon is a child care facility established in 1957 to care for war orphans, and since then has supported children in need of protection so that they can become independent.

This year, the Busan Metropolitan Government provided approximately 30.7 billion won in operating expenses and other support to 20 child care facilities, enabling children to live in a stable environment. The monthly allowance for elementary, middle, and high school students in these facilities was increased by 2,000 won this year, and children with extended protection now receive a new monthly support of 50,000 won.

Additionally, Busan was selected as the top local government for four consecutive years in the evaluation of child policy implementation plans organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. The city also received awards for two consecutive years in the child policy impact assessment. Based on these achievements, the city plans to strengthen its child welfare system-integrating care, education, support, and housing-to continue building a child-friendly city.

Mayor Park Hyungjun stated, "Child welfare is a core policy that protects every aspect of a child's life," adding, "We will strengthen the care system so that children can grow up healthy and happy with warm encouragement, and we will build a community where the local society comes together."