[Interview] Park Junhee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, "We will continuously implement policies that resonate with youth and strive to create a 'Youth City Gwanak'"

Youth Activity Hub 'Gwanak Cheongnyeoncheong' Accelerates Construction with 12.392 Billion KRW Investment, New Building of 1,533.39㎡... Three-Rooms in Sillim-dong, Online Gwanak Youth Festival and Other Non-Face-to-Face Projects for Youth in the COVID-19 Era... Support for Young Small Business Owners Affected by COVID-19 and Programs for Youth Mental Stability and Employment Skills Enhancement

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “Gwanak-gu is the city with the highest proportion of youth population nationwide (40.5%). Accordingly, we are carrying out various projects to establish spaces, activities, and employment infrastructure that can support and back the dreams of young people.”

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said this while emphasizing youth projects in the ‘Youth City’ Gwanak-gu administration.

First, the construction of ‘Gwanak Youth Center’ (1759 Nambusunhwan-ro), a comprehensive activity hub for youth, is progressing smoothly with the goal of completion by December next year.

The Gwanak Youth Center is a youth activity hub that provides comprehensive services such as employment, jobs, welfare, life and psychological counseling, and community support to young people facing various social issues like employment difficulties and housing costs.

A total project cost of 12.392 billion KRW will be invested, and based on the final design plan expressing ‘free and dynamic youth activities and a place for youth exchange communicating with the local community,’ an old building along Nambusunhwan-ro will be purchased and newly constructed as a building with one basement floor and seven above-ground floors, with a total floor area of 1,533.39㎡.

With the final design completed at the end of October, the district plans to focus administrative efforts on starting construction in December and completing it by December 2021.

Along with this, the district is also operating various non-face-to-face online programs in line with the COVID-19 era.

‘Sillim-dong Three Room’ (91 Sillim-ro, 3rd floor), a youth activity space in Gwanak-gu, has shifted its business direction to untact (contactless) and is running various online programs since its closure in February to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Programs include ▲hobby sharing program ‘Do City Talk’ ▲1:1 comprehensive life counseling program ‘Sangdam Orang’ ▲community activities such as ‘Finding a Home A to Z’ sharing housing and health information and Mind Pharmacy, as well as cultural and artistic classes like writing, community dance, and reading sessions. Non-face-to-face programs are ongoing, and 5,920 members of the Sillim-dong Three Room membership receive youth policy and support information via text messages.

Also, on the 24th of last month, the ‘2nd Gwanak Youth Festival - Ontact Live Concert’ was successfully concluded with great response from online audiences. Held under the concept of ‘A Blue (靑) Spring (春) Story Delivered in Autumn,’ the event was composed of various programs that allowed communication with online audiences.

In particular, a large screen was installed to enable participation of 100 online panelists, and the event was conducted through mutual video communication using the ZOOM platform. This vividly conveyed the sense of being on-site, receiving great responses from online audiences, and achieved a participant-centered event for youth who quickly respond to changing times.

Along with this, support for young small business owners affected by COVID-19 was not overlooked. Since March, the district has provided lunchbox manufacturing costs to 30 young small business owners in the area and conducted the ‘Happiness Sharing Lunchbox Support Project’ linked with 322 vulnerable people, providing new sales channels to young small business owners suffering from decreased sales and helping to strengthen their self-sustainability.

Additionally, education programs to support youth employment are also underway. Programs such as ▲Online Employment Competency Development Center ▲Gwanak-gu-KB Good Job Youth Employment and Start-up Program ▲Youth Dream Gwanak Camp ▲Creator Training Education ▲Big Data Analysis Course are operated to enhance employment capabilities and provide education in specialized fields needed by youth.

Furthermore, to prevent social isolation of single-person youth households, the district supports ▲Youth Social Dining ▲Youth Club Activities, and for youth mental healing, programs such as ▲Youth Empathy Academy ▲Online Youth Healing Yoga ▲Youth Art Psychological Healing are provided, supporting stable and happy lives for youth in various ways.

Park Jun-hee, Mayor of Gwanak-gu, said, “As a city with the highest youth population nationwide (40.5%), we are doing our best to build various infrastructures for youth,” and added, “We will continue to listen to the voices of young people, promote policies that resonate with them, and strive to create ‘Youth City Gwanak.’”

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