[Interview] Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon District, "Need to Relieve Residents' Fatigue Amid Prolonged COVID-19"

Operation of Drive-in Theater at Junggye Nohae Neighborhood Park Extended to 10-11 and 17-19... Safe Book Loan Service Allows Up to 5 Books per Person for Maximum 3 Weeks, First-Come-First-Served for 60 People per Library per Day... 'Nowon Safe Accommodation' Operated to Prevent Infectious Disease Spread, Overseas Entrants Quarantine at Home, Families Stay at Hotels... 'Visiting Pottery Experience' Offered to Relieve Quarantine Depression, Pottery Made at Home Fired and Delivered Back

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “In the face of COVID-19, everyone is vulnerable regardless of who they are. As the government extends the social distancing period by two more weeks, it seems that the mental fatigue of the residents has reached its limit. It is time to find various ways to relieve this.”

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon District, said in an interview with Asia Economy, “As the COVID-19 situation prolongs, citizens’ feelings of depression and psychological stress are intensifying. Although April is a month when flowers bloom in full, restrictions on daily activities are many, so ‘psychological quarantine’ is needed to maintain mental vitality.”

For the past two months, all administrative efforts have been focused on preventing COVID-19 infection. Now is the time to prepare for balancing infection prevention with daily activities.

Mayor Oh introduced one by one the projects to immediately relieve residents’ emotional fatigue and future plans by utilizing various public-private infrastructures that Nowon has.

The first initiative was the drive-in theater operated at Nohae Neighborhood Park in Junggye-dong from March 28 to April 5, every weekend evening at 7:30 PM. Due to location constraints, the number of vehicles was limited to about 100, but watching movies on the outdoor giant screen was evaluated to have somewhat relieved the residents’ mental frustration.

Ms. Jung Mi-kyung, a resident near the park, said, “Although it is nice to enjoy the warm April sunshine and the splendidly blooming cherry blossoms, watching a movie comfortably with my children in the open park near my home gave me some mental rest.”

Encouraged by such positive responses from residents, the district extended the screenings to April 10-11 and 17-19. Reservations must be made in advance through the Nowon Cultural Foundation website or the foundation’s cultural business department. To prevent COVID-19, the drive-in theater is disinfected before each screening, hand sanitizers are used when entering with vehicles, and staff conduct temperature checks.

The ‘Safe Book Loan Service’ is another project aimed at relieving residents’ emotional fatigue. The service started on April 7. The target libraries are five public libraries: Nowon Information Library, Nowon Children’s Library, Wolgye Cultural Information Library, Sanggye Cultural Information Library, and Bulam Library.

Anyone with a library membership card can use the service. Up to five books can be borrowed per person for a maximum of three weeks. The service accepts 60 people per library per day on a first-come, first-served basis, totaling 300 people.

To use the service, applicants must register from Tuesday to Sunday between 10 AM and 3 PM on the Nowon District public library website under the short-term program ‘Safe Loan’ to receive a registration number, then write the desired books on the Safe Book Loan bulletin board.

Requested books can be picked up the next day during the first session from 11 AM to 3 PM or the second session from 3 PM to 6 PM at a designated locker on the first floor of the library by entering a separately provided password. However, books requested on Sunday can be picked up on Tuesday.

To prevent possible infections, all loaned books are disinfected using a book sterilizer before lending, and the libraries are regularly disinfected. Residents are also asked to wear masks when picking up books.

The response to the Safe Book Loan Service was overwhelming. Mayor Oh said, “The early closure of loans at the five libraries on the first day of service shows that residents’ various intellectual needs had been suppressed due to library closures over the past two months,” adding, “We are currently reviewing whether it is possible to increase the number of loans.”

Another unique project is the ‘Nowon Safe Accommodation.’ Due to the recent decline in travelers caused by COVID-19, lodging businesses are facing severe difficulties. Since overseas arrivals must quarantine at home for two weeks, the idea is that the arriving person quarantines at home while the rest of the family stays at an external accommodation.

This approach is a win-win measure that prevents infection and does not interfere with lodging business operations, as even asymptomatic quarantined individuals staying at accommodations may cause anxiety among nearby residents.

Nowon Safe Accommodation is available not only to families of overseas arrivals but also to families of domestic quarantined individuals. The daily accommodation fee is 99,000 KRW, with hotels covering 50% (49,500 KRW), the district covering 30% (29,500 KRW), and the user paying 20%, which is 20,000 KRW per day. The accommodation fee must be prepaid according to the number of days used.

The Nowon Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters informs quarantined individuals about the Safe Accommodation during monitoring and asks if they wish to use it. The district conducts daily visits and phone monitoring to check for symptoms among users and provides simple snacks to accommodation users.

A healing program to relieve depression and stress for quarantined individuals is also being prepared. It is a ‘Visiting Pottery Experience’ that allows people to make pottery at home.

When a quarantined person applies, a pottery experience kit is delivered to their home. They make a pottery flowerpot following the enclosed instructions and place it outside their door. The pottery studio collects it, fires it in a kiln, and delivers the finished product.

The program is free of charge, and detailed production instructions are provided. The production process will be recorded on video and posted on YouTube.

Feeling the soft texture of the clay, the main material of pottery, and completing the work is expected to provide comfort and self-satisfaction, helping to relieve stress.

Mayor Oh did not forget to express his gratitude to residents for faithfully practicing social distancing. He said, “The number of confirmed cases in Nowon has significantly decreased over the past two weeks,” and asked residents to “bear with it a little longer and continue to participate so that our efforts are not in vain.” As of April 9, the number of confirmed cases in Nowon is 25, which is below the Seoul city average of 32 per population.

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