What’s the Story Behind Mapo-gu’s ‘Anything Consultation Desk’ Giving Gifts to Residents?

Woman Suffering Domestic Violence Prepares New Life Through 'Anything Consultation Window'... Operated in All 16 Districts, Handling Over 300 Cases in 6 Months with High Satisfaction and Settlement

Anything Consultation Desk inside Gongdeok-dong Community Center

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “I am sleeping in short naps at a jjimjilbang to escape my husband’s ongoing violence. I need a job and housing for the sake of raising my child, who is in the first grade of elementary school.”

In February, a woman who visited the “Anything Consultation Desk” at Ahyeon-dong Community Center in Mapo-gu requested help.

After hearing the woman’s situation, the staff in charge urgently separated the woman and her child from the spouse through Mapo-gu’s Emergency Welfare Support and Village Lawyer Consultation, protecting the complainant. Then, through four sessions of counseling with welfare experts, it was concluded that the family could no longer be maintained, and assistance was provided for divorce litigation procedures.

Later, in June, the woman contacted them again. She said, “Everything has been resolved well. I can now plan a new life. Thank you very much for your help.”

Since February, Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) has been operating the nation’s first “Anything Consultation Desk.”

The Anything Consultation Desk, installed in all 16 neighborhoods of Mapo-gu, handles consultations not only on issues under the district’s jurisdiction such as domestic violence, unemployment, neighborhood disputes, inheritance, and custody changes but also personal matters that are difficult to resolve independently.

The consultation desk is exclusively operated by a Grade 6 public official with extensive administrative experience. Since February, a total of 309 cases have been received, with 305 cases completed and 4 cases under follow-up management.

As the consultation desk became widely known among Mapo-gu residents, the number of in-person consultation cases steadily increased. In the Mapo-gu district satisfaction survey conducted in June, it ranked 4th in satisfaction among all district projects, showing stable establishment.

Following Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun’s belief in warm-hearted communication, innovation, and life-centered administration by public officials, the district is planning ways to further activate the Anything Consultation Desk in the second half of the year.

The district plans to ▲build a computerized system for efficient management of consultation data ▲provide training to improve staff consultation skills ▲hold regular case management meetings ▲form expert “help task forces” by field ▲utilize local human resources as “one-day counselors.” Through this, the district aims to use the Anything Consultation Desk as a key pillar of the 7th term’s communicative district administration.

Additionally, the district plans to maintain administrative efforts to support small business owners affected by the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this year, hold regular meetings for sharing work among staff and collecting residents’ suggestions, and spread excellent cases by participating in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s active administration case contest.

The inauguration ceremony of Mapo-gu's Anything Consultation Desk held last January

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, “There are still so many neighbors around who are struggling. We will do our best to operate the Anything Consultation Desk so that any resident can come comfortably, share their difficulties, and receive help.”

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