Seoyangho, Mayor of Jung-gu Seoul, Communicates with Residents via Non-face-to-face Live Talk

Seoyangho Jung-gu Mayor and 70 Citizen Advisors Participate in Real-Time Opinion Sharing

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jung-gu, Seoul (Mayor Seoyangho) has launched non-face-to-face online communication to reflect the vivid voices of residents in policies.

On the 11th at 4 p.m., the district held the '2020 Citizen Advisory Group Live Policy Talk' with Mayor Seoyangho of Jung-gu and 70 citizen advisors participating, sharing opinions on district policies and holding a Q&A session.

Citizen advisors refer to residents who usually provide policy advice and evaluation for Jung-gu, suggest proposals necessary for living policies and other project promotions. They proposed numerous policies during seven discussion sessions last year, some of which were reflected in actual projects, and are actively involved in various district projects such as citizen initiatives and COVID-19 idea contests.

As offline meetings of citizen advisors, who play a key role in gathering consensus on district policies, became difficult due to COVID-19, the district came up with a clever solution. They utilized the group chat room for citizen advisors that was already established and in operation.

Mayor Seoyangho was invited to the KakaoTalk group chat room, and the meeting was conducted as a real-time live talk. The mayor’s video was broadcast on mobile screens, and citizen advisors communicated with Mayor Seo in real time via KakaoTalk. It was praised as an easy online meeting without any restrictions on location or equipment. This created a non-face-to-face communication platform accessible to anyone.

During the meeting, active discussions were held on the most needed policies and areas in our neighborhood. A vote was also conducted on the top five priority policies: parking environment improvement, expansion of resident convenience facilities, revitalization of alley economy, resolution of parking difficulties, cleaning environment improvement, and education and care.

The policy that ranked first in the citizen advisors’ vote was the expansion of resident convenience facilities. Advisors participating in the meeting expressed regret over the lack of resident convenience facilities and showed high interest in the upcoming opening of Sindang Nuri Center and the Our Neighborhood Management Office project plan, which has functions similar to those of apartment management offices.

Citizen advisors expressed satisfaction, saying that the online conversation with Mayor Seo was freer and livelier than offline meetings.

Mayor Seoyangho of Jung-gu said, "We tried a new communication method to incorporate residents’ voices into policies," adding, "We will continue to create communication channels that effectively hear residents’ opinions by appropriately combining face-to-face and non-face-to-face methods."

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