Seongdong-gu Offers Free Consultations for Increasing Everyday Legal Issues Due to COVID-19

Due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, extensive free legal consultation support is provided for financially and domestically struggling individuals... Online reservation system established to prevent no-shows and expand legal welfare access to younger generations... From June, free legal consultations by village legal officers will be newly operated in 5 districts, offering practical legal advice for daily life.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seongdong-gu (Mayor Jeong Won-oh) has launched a large-scale free legal consultation support service for individuals facing difficulties such as financial issues, housing and lease deposit problems, inheritance, or divorce due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

The free legal consultation service has shown a continuous increase over the past three years, with a 1.9% rise compared to the previous year, providing 1,287 consultation services last year.

Civil consultations accounted for 73% of all consultations, with the majority related to property and daily life legal issues such as housing and commercial lease deposits and key money. Family consultations, including property division and child custody, accounted for 18.4%, the second highest proportion, indicating many residents in the area are experiencing difficulties in daily life during the COVID-19 era.

In response, the district has prepared proactive measures to actively secure users for the free legal consultation service, which has received great support from residents.

First, the reservation method was improved by establishing an online reservation system on the district’s website to prevent no-shows and significantly accommodate more consultation users.

Additionally, by providing advance notice of reservations, the district plans to identify cancellations on the consultation day, secure waiting list reservations, analyze the causes of no-shows, and offer rebooking opportunities to enhance user satisfaction.

By checking reservation status in real time, it is expected that more people in their 20s and 30s, who had previously used the service less, will participate, allowing various age groups to enjoy legal welfare benefits.

Starting in June, free legal consultations using Seoul city’s village legal officers will be newly opened at five community service centers, expanding legal consultation services related to real estate registration, non-contentious matters, name changes, auctions, deposits, and other legal affairs, alongside the existing village lawyer consultations, to provide more practical legal advice.

Jeong Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “With this online reservation application, any resident facing legal issues can easily and conveniently receive legal consultations,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to support and provide continuous and systematic legal services.”

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