[Interview] Lee Seung-ro, Chairman of Seoul Northeast District Fashion and Sewing Industry Development Association: "Joint Efforts Needed to Sustain Sewing Industry Ecosystem"

Seungro Lee, Seongbuk-gu Mayor, Re-elected as 5th President of Seoul Northeast Fashion Sewing Industry Development Council... Leader of Fashion Sewing Hub Seongbuk-gu... Shows Special Passion for Fashion Sewing Industry... Four Major Achievements Include Blocking Budget Cuts for Clothing Companies' Work Environment Improvement Projects

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “Going forward, the council will maintain close communication with Seoul City and external experts, actively voicing the aspirations of sewing companies to be reflected in policies, and will continuously strive to resolve the challenges faced by district-level fashion and sewing industries.”

Seungro Lee, Mayor of Seongbuk-gu, who was re-elected last month as the chairman of the Seoul Northeast Fashion and Sewing Industry Development Council, expressed these ambitions as the 5th chairman.

Seongbuk-gu, the hub of the sewing industry where about 1,500 fashion sewing companies are concentrated. Perhaps because of this, Mayor Lee’s affection for Seoul’s fashion and sewing policies is exceptional.

The mayor cites the ‘Public Safety Mask’ project conducted last year with nine districts belonging to the council (▲Jongno-gu ▲Jung-gu ▲Seongdong-gu ▲Gwangjin-gu ▲Dongdaemun-gu ▲Jungnang-gu ▲Seongbuk-gu ▲Gangbuk-gu ▲Dobong-gu) as a major achievement of the Development Council.

Due to COVID-19, order volumes drastically decreased and export routes were blocked, putting the fashion and sewing association on the brink of closure. Seongbuk-gu placed a large pre-order for the production of public safety masks, and the districts belonging to the Development Council shared this intention. Through this goodwill order, the fashion sewing association was able to breathe new life, and as a form of gratitude, they produced 10,000 masks and delivered them to Seongbuk-gu to be donated to Turkey, a brotherly nation, continuing a virtuous cycle.

Above all, he strives to listen to voices from the sewing sites and respond promptly. Mayor Lee said, “It is very important to improve the poor working conditions to create a safe working environment and strengthen the competitiveness of garment manufacturers,” adding, “In fact, during a full survey, the demand for work environment improvement projects was very high, but support has not met that demand.”

The 4th council continuously appealed these on-site difficulties to Seoul City and successfully prevented budget cuts for total project expenses used for improving the work environment of garment manufacturers this year.

They also immediately reflected the opinions of sewing company officials requesting the eradication of illegal label switching, supporting the budget for promotional expenses to eliminate illegal label switching related to country of origin labeling.

Mayor Lee says the core role of the 5th council is “to help the sewing industry maintain its industrial ecosystem and develop its own competitiveness within the city.” He stated, “For our sewing companies to maintain a strong ecosystem without moving to the outskirts of the city, joint efforts are necessary. Since improving the poor working environment of sewing companies to maintain employment and create jobs is the most urgent task, we will work with the nine districts of the Northeast area and Seoul City to expand budget allocation, and also plan to create a forum where the central government and Northeast districts can come together to discuss this.”

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