[This Person] A Special May for Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo District?

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, Grew Up Facing Hardships as the Head of Seven Siblings After Parents' Business Failures, Demonstrating Unyielding Spirit to Achieve His Dreams and Tirelessly Working to Support Neighbors and Students; Marked the Day with Move-in Ceremony for Two Maem Housing Units Providing Shelter for the Needy, and Donated Taxi Earnings to Mapo Scholarship Foundation Amid COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] It is the season of fresh greenery, May.

“Fly, birds, in the blue sky~ Run, stream, through the green fields~ May is so green, we are growing...” On the 5th, Children’s Day will be celebrated with the song 'Children’s Day Song,' lyrics by Yoon Seok-jung and music by Yoon Geuk-young, and on the 8th is Parents’ Day to thank parents for their grace.

The 1st is Labor Day.

Because of this, May is a month that makes us realize the importance of ‘people’ once again.

Especially as COVID-19, which has caused difficulties worldwide as a pandemic, seems to be gradually disappearing in our country, the significance of this May is expected to grow even more.

Meanwhile, May 1st is a special day for Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu. Two households eligible for move-in to purchased rental housing are moving in on this day.

One of the key pledges of the 7th elected term Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun’s administration, the ‘MH Mapo Housing’ project, is a representative residential welfare support policy of the district that provides temporary housing, purchased rental housing, and housing stabilization funds to households facing housing crises.

The purchased rental housing located in Seongsan-dong is a space that gives hope to neighbors in need by purchasing ordinary houses as part of Mayor Yoo’s pledge. The houses, equipped with three rooms, one bathroom, a living room, and a kitchen, are offered at an affordable rent of about 500,000 KRW deposit and 300,000 KRW monthly rent. To operate these purchased rental houses, the district purchased three houses in the area last year and completed renovations earlier this year.

This is the first case among Seoul’s autonomous districts where the district directly purchases houses and supplies them as rental housing to vulnerable households. The scheduled tenants are a Korean War veteran (national merit recipient) and a basic livelihood security household with a child admitted to an international high school as a Mapo scholarship student.

The district plans to support moving expenses and daily necessities through linkage with housing stabilization funds as part of the Mapo Housing project to ensure their stable move-in and settlement.

In addition, since the project started last year, separate from the operation of purchased rental housing, the district has prepared 13 temporary housing units for residents urgently needing living spaces and provided them to residents in housing vulnerability.

Mapo-gu is continuously expanding the ‘MH Mapo Housing’ project, a Mapo-style residential welfare support policy, to respond to the housing stability needs of low-income residents in the area facing housing problems amid difficult economic conditions.

Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said, “We will secure and support customized housing for various demanders such as those who suddenly lost their homes due to demolition, fire, or domestic violence, households waiting to move into public rental housing under construction who need housing support, socially considerate youth and newlyweds, and national merit recipients,” adding, “We will make this a new model for residential welfare policies nationwide.”

It is reported that Mayor Yoo has a special story behind providing a place to live for neighbors in need like this.

As the eldest of seven siblings, Mayor Yoo lived comfortably with his parents in his hometown, Gochang, Jeonbuk, until he was 12. However, following his parents, he moved to Seoul, settled in Wangsimni, and operated a rice store called Yeonggwang Sanghoe, but the store declined because his father liked to give to others.

Later, they moved to Mapo-gu and lived through difficult times for about two years in a cave house on Seongmisan behind Mapo-gu Office, where nine families lived together without proper housing. Mayor Yoo helped his parents’ livelihood by working at a bag factory in Yeonsinnae, and although he could not attend a GED academy, he studied there after work and passed the middle and high school GED exams.

He is a representative figure of ‘Hyeongseoljigong’ (螢雪之功), meaning achieving success by studying under fireflies and snow at night.

Among the current 7th elected term mayors of the 25 districts in Seoul, he is probably the one who had the hardest childhood. Of course, Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol of Dongdaemun-gu also experienced a difficult life after moving to Seoul, delivering newspapers and working at a bakery during middle and high school.

Nevertheless, Mayor Yoo boldly declared to those around him after running for and being elected as a Mapo-gu council member in the 1st elected term, “Someday, I will definitely help neighbors in need as the mayor of Mapo-gu,” and eventually fulfilled that dream.

Despite the difficult process, he never stopped studying, graduated from Korea National Open University, and is currently completing the final course at Yonsei University Graduate School of Public Administration.

Another heartwarming story about Mayor Yoo’s love for local residents is also a hot topic. Before becoming a Seoul city council member, he worked as a taxi driver, and after becoming the 7th elected term mayor of Mapo-gu, he transforms into a taxi driver once a month, donating 300,000 KRW monthly, including the income earned, to the Mapo Scholarship Fund.

Especially, it became a hot topic that he donated 5 million KRW from the condolence money received after his mother-in-law passed away earlier this year to the Mapo Scholarship Fund. Mayor Yoo said, “I have not been able to work as a taxi driver for several months due to COVID-19,” and added, “I will take the taxi wheel again as soon as COVID-19 disappears.”

In a phone call with a reporter on April 30, Mayor Yoo said, “Having lived a very difficult childhood, I have always thought that it would be good to help people who have the will to try just a little.”

This thought of Mayor Yoo is leading to providing homes for neighbors in need and delivering scholarships.

He always urges his staff to “be warm-hearted people.”

Recently, Mayor Yoo is also smiling happily because of another good news. Jeong Cheong-rae, a candidate from Mapo-eul whom he served as the district party office chief for eight years, was elected for the third term in the 21st general election.

It makes one curious about the limits of the energetic Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun of Mapo-gu.

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