Seoul City's Unique New Year's Ceremony... 'TED-Style New Year's Address' 'Gongyu Bookstore' (Comprehensive)

Park Won-soon (center), Mayor of Seoul, is exchanging New Year's greetings with district mayors at the opening ceremony. / Provided by Seoul City

[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] The Seoul Metropolitan Government presented a unique New Year's ceremony pledging a 'fair start.'

On the morning of the 2nd, the city held a New Year's ceremony at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts, attended by about 3,800 employees from the headquarters, business offices, and autonomous districts. Mayor Park Won-soon delivered a New Year's address expressing his commitment to ensuring a fair starting line.

In a presentation adopting the format of a TED talk, a global knowledge conference, Mayor Park revealed his long-held conviction under the theme "At the Turning Point of Great Transformation ? Seoul Guarantees a Fair Starting Line."

He stated, "The great transformation to revive the economy and people's livelihoods must begin with guaranteeing a fair starting line," and pledged, "We will do our best to create a 'fair starting line' by utilizing all available resources." He then introduced policies proposed last year, such as the national real estate sharing system and the expansion of youth allowances.

Employees performed a ceremony by unfolding a large banner bearing the message of a fair starting line and flying paper airplanes inscribed with the New Year's administrative keywords. At the invited performance, hip-hop artist Cheetah presented a rap expressing the hardships of youth and the values of Seoul's administration. The lyrics emphasized a sustainable future and an equal Seoul.

Just before the ceremony, a 'Shared Bookstore' event was held in the lobby of the Sejong Center, where Mayor Park, heads of subordinate autonomous districts, and employees exchanged recommended books. Mayor Park recommended books such as "The Price of Inequality" (Stiglitz), "If Pain Becomes the Way" (Kim Seung-seop), "Our Kids" (Robert Putnam), "The Path of Accumulation" (Lee Jeong-dong), and "The Perspective of Excellent Thinking" (Choi Jin-seok). The Seoul Metropolitan Government replaced the annual 'New Year's Meeting' for city and district executives with this Shared Bookstore event this year. At the event, Mayor Park also expressed his intention to raise humanities funds and expand libraries.

Before the ceremony, Mayor Park visited the National Seoul Memorial Cemetery to pay official respects. In the visitor's book, he left the message, "Seoul guarantees a fair starting line."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.