Student Lee Seungmin Awarded for 'Seoul Special City Food Waste Disposal Ordinance'

Seoul Metropolitan Council Hosts Youth Ordinance Legislation Contest, Selects 10 Practical Ordinance Proposals Reflecting Youths' Serious Concerns... Kim In-ho, Chair of Seoul Metropolitan Council, “Deeply Moved by Ordinance Proposals Closely Related to Citizens' Lives from Youth Perspectives”

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho) held the "Youth Ordinance Drafting Competition" online on August 11 at the Seoul Metropolitan Council building in collaboration with the Korea Youth Foundation as part of the 30th anniversary celebration of the revival of local autonomy.

Since the competition was held under the theme of "Creating ordinances (enactment and amendment) closely related to the lives of Seoul citizens," various opinions were heard regarding policies necessary for the lives of Seoul citizens from the perspective of youth. Despite their busy academic schedules, the students showed a well-structured output with interest in various social areas such as cleaning workers, companion animals, and sex crimes, impressing the judges with the content and composition of their ordinance drafts.

A total of 43 ordinance drafts were submitted during the application period from June 7 to July 20. After the first preliminary screening (document review), five drafts from the high school division and five from the university division, totaling 10 drafts, advanced to the final competition where the final rankings were decided.

The online final competition of the Youth Ordinance Drafting Competition held on August 11 was conducted seriously through the online video conferencing tool Zoom, allowing each presenter 5 minutes to present. Although all participants could not gather in one place due to COVID-19, about 80 audience members participated online, giving "likes" to ordinances necessary in daily life. The event was also broadcast live on the "Seoul Metropolitan Council YouTube" channel, receiving enthusiastic support and comments from many interested citizens.

Among the presentations by the 10 teams, the grand prize was awarded to Lee Seung-min and two others (high school division) who proposed expanding the installation of RFID food waste meters beyond apartment complexes in the "Seoul Metropolitan City Food Waste Disposal Ordinance," and Han Eun-bin and three others (university division) who presented the "Youth Digital Sex Crime Prevention and Awareness Improvement Ordinance," which focuses on preventive measures such as operating a reporting center rather than post-punishment for digital sex crimes.

The ordinance drafts submitted to this competition showed that Seoul's youth are not only focused on their studies but also actively interested and willing to participate in the local community. In particular, they have long recognized and considered solutions to social issues faced by Seoul citizens in daily life, such as secondhand smoke damage, job creation for the elderly, protection of emotional laborers, and noise restrictions on motorcycles, which is expected to play a pivotal role in the future development of Seoul.

Kim In-ho, Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council and host of the competition, said, "Creating the Seoul I dream of with my own hands is the true meaning of local autonomy," and added, "I was deeply moved to see ordinance drafts closely related to the lives of Seoul citizens from the perspective of youth in this meaningful year marking the 30th anniversary of the revival of local councils."

Also, Kim Ki-duk, Vice Chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, who presented the awards that day, commented, "The process of youth directly creating ordinances was a great opportunity to learn about the roles and functions of local councils and local autonomy. Especially, this Youth Ordinance Drafting Competition seems to be the first step of the residents' ordinance proposal system included in the revised Local Autonomy Act, which makes its significance even greater."

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