Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok and Healing City Director Choi Kwang-bin: A Masterpiece Created by a 'Fantastic Combo'?

Seoul Green City Director Choi Kwang-bin, Twice Appointed, Recruited by Nowon-gu Mayor Oh Seung-rok After Retirement, Creating Top Green City with Bulamsan Butterfly Garden, Healing Town, and Bulamsan Forest Healing Center

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon District

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Choi Kwang-bin, the Healing City Director of Nowon-gu and the top green space expert who has served twice as the Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Green City Bureau, is making headlines for transforming Nowon-gu into Seoul’s premier green city.

Director Choi passed the 1980 civil service exam for the green space division and served as the head of Seoul’s Parks Department and Director of the Green City Bureau. In the 6th elected government in 2014, he was recruited as the Deputy Mayor (Grade 2) of Nowon-gu by Mayor Kim Seong-hwan on February 17, establishing his connection with Nowon-gu.

After retiring from public service, Director Choi reconnected with Nowon-gu as the transition committee chairman for Mayor-elect Oh Seung-rok of the 7th elected government, and on December 7, 2018, he was recruited as the head of the Nowon-gu Healing City Promotion Team.

This is an unusual relationship not seen in other Seoul districts.

Kwangbin Choi, Director of Healing City Bureau, Nowon-gu

This shows how indispensable Director Choi is to Nowon-gu. Especially since Nowon-gu boasts excellent natural environments such as the foothills of Bulamsan Mountain and the Jungnangcheon and Danghyeoncheon streams, it is necessary to develop a city that makes good use of these features.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok of Nowon-gu highly values Director Choi’s expertise and ability to drive projects, having worked with him during his time as a Seoul city council member, and showed his sincerity by recruiting him again upon taking office, maintaining a good relationship to this day.

Since taking office as mayor, Oh has enacted the “Ordinance on the Creation and Promotion of Garden Culture in Nowon-gu, Seoul” in 2018, striving to make Nowon “a city of flowers and gardens.”

Representative projects include the “Hyu (休) Garden” initiative, which transforms neglected neighborhood parks near apartments and residential areas into “home gardens,” installation of flower pots on major streetlights and railings, and planting of herbaceous plants through neighborhood stream restoration projects. Additionally, a specialized gardening education program was established to systematically impart plant knowledge and effectively manage gardens, nurturing “village gardeners.” These village gardeners actively participate in garden culture creation projects such as the Hyu (休) Garden project and the Bulamsan Butterfly Garden, maintaining and managing local green spaces.

Director Choi has been at the center of driving these efforts. Notably, he successfully completed major projects such as environmental improvements of Jungnangcheon, Danghyeoncheon, and Uicheon streams, creation of the Bulamsan Butterfly Garden and Healing Town, and construction of the Bulamsan Forest Healing Center.

In particular, about 17.36 km of walking and bicycle paths along Jungnangcheon and Danghyeoncheon were refurbished, and a previously disconnected 0.32 km walking path along Uicheon was newly created.

Also, a new light garden was established on the 8,400㎡ azalea hill within Bulamsan Healing Town.

Lighting was installed under the railings along the circular walking deck to ensure safe evening strolls. Considering the surrounding green space, indirect step lighting was used to minimize glare, allowing visitors to enjoy a gentle illumination comfortably.

Furthermore, guided landscape lighting was installed from the entrance of Hwarangdae Station on Subway Line 6 to the Nowon Bulbit Garden. The lighting uses a “wall washer” method that avoids direct light exposure, minimizing glare for pedestrians and drivers nearby.

Alongside this, Nowon-gu opened the Bulamsan Forest Healing Center at 5 p.m. on October 24 last year.

Located near the Bulamsan Butterfly Garden at 51-80 Hangulbiseok-ro 12-gil (Junggyebon-dong), the Forest Healing Center was built with a total floor area of 488㎡ on one above-ground floor, consisting of two buildings.

The main facilities include the Oak Building, Pine Building, and Healing Forest Garden, and the center operates healing programs led by forest healing instructors. These programs are available as daily experiences and weekly sessions held four times a week, operated by advance reservation through the district’s website.

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