Safety and Welfare Are All About Timing!... What Is Yangcheon District's Secret to Building a Tight Safety Net?

Completion of the Yangcheon-Style Welfare System with Care SOS Center and 100-Year Health Care Project
Reviving Community Spirit through Public-Private Partnerships like the Our Neighborhood Care Team

Suyoung Kim, Mayor of Yangcheon District (right), visited elderly residents living alone in Sinwol 4-dong on the 30th of last month, delivering samgyetang and side dishes while checking on their well-being.

[Asia Economy, Reporter Park Jongil] You may have heard that the Korean character for "person" (人) visually represents two people leaning on each other. This is based on the idea that humans cannot live alone and must rely on one another.

However, in recent years, the number of single-person households has increased rapidly. Moreover, due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic since last year, it has become more natural to picture individuals standing alone, rather than people leaning on and relying on each other, as connections with family and society have gradually weakened.

Terms like "honbap" (eating alone) and "honsul" (drinking alone) reflect current trends, and the reality TV show "I Live Alone" resonates with the public. The problem is that, unlike the celebrities featured on television, very few people can actually enjoy such a free and affluent lifestyle.

According to the Population and Housing Census and data on the living conditions of Seoul residents, the number of single-person households soared from 5.61 million in 2017 to 6.64 million in 2020. In 2020, single-person households accounted for 33.3% of all households in Seoul, the highest proportion among all household types.

This structure inevitably leads to increasing levels of social isolation and loneliness. Furthermore, what was once considered an issue only for the elderly-lonely deaths-has now expanded to include not only middle-aged individuals but also young people struggling with unemployment. As a result, dying alone has become a significant social issue.

Recognizing loneliness as a social problem, the United Kingdom appointed the world’s first Minister for Loneliness in 2018, and other European countries are also taking active measures at the national level. In Korea, the Act on the Prevention of Solitary Deaths was enacted last year and has been in effect since the beginning of this year. This marks the first step in recognizing loneliness and solitary deaths as "social illnesses that anyone can experience."

Yangcheon District (headed by Mayor Kim Suyoung), which had already been focusing on the loneliness and safety of the middle-aged, implemented proactive measures such as the "Nabinam Project" to support the welfare and social reintegration of single middle-aged men aged 50 to 64. The district is now concentrating on building a social safety net.

"Nabinam" (meaning "I am not alone") was the first attempt to reach out to high-risk, middle-aged men who had been excluded from the existing welfare system and to bring them back into the community. For the first time in the country, discussions focused on the loneliness of the middle-aged, rather than the elderly. Now, support is provided to single-person households in the middle-aged group regardless of gender.

Yangcheon District is completing its unique welfare system through the Care SOS Center and the 100-Year Health Care Project, and is also actively working to fill gaps in care using the latest technology. The district checks on the well-being of elderly residents living alone using AI speakers and smart plugs, and is running a "Smart Guardian" project to track the location of vulnerable groups such as dementia patients and people with disabilities.

Recently, a welfare officer in Sinjeong 3-dong saved the life of a man in his 50s living alone, who had been unable to eat for over ten days during a heat wave, after calling him to verify his bank account for the national support fund.

The desperate word "juice" came through the phone. The officer’s quick and accurate judgment led to the man’s hospitalization and, subsequently, to linking him with the Care SOS Center for housing support services. The officer also helped restore his relationship with his family, whom he had not seen for a long time. For someone who had no connections, family and society became a lifeline once again.

"We all have a desire to be connected. Social isolation is the greatest illness. The reason we focus on connecting people is that it is directly linked to a healthy and safe society. It is a misunderstanding to think of care and support as something that is only given or only received. I believe that through these relationships, we can move toward a healthier society."

This is why Mayor Kim Suyoung, who has long been concerned with welfare and social safety systems, emphasizes "connection with people." Unlike in the past, the sense of community has become much weaker, and social shadows are growing deeper. Although non-face-to-face relationships through various online platforms are now the norm, Mayor Kim personally delivered samgyetang and side dishes to single-person households during the summer to check on their well-being, because for vulnerable people in blind spots, such check-ins mean much more than just a greeting.

The gaps that cannot be filled by administrative personnel alone are being addressed through private sector participation. The "Our Neighborhood Care Team" is one example. Since this year, three neighborhoods (Sinwol 1-dong, Sinwol 3-dong, and Sinjeong 7-dong) have participated in a pilot program. Each care team, consisting of five members per neighborhood, regularly visits residents in welfare blind spots, checks on their well-being, and connects them with necessary services. By checking in on those who have lost connections with others for various personal reasons, the team is helping to restore these bonds one by one. For some, this is a "lifeline of comfort," while for others, it is literally a "lifeline."

Mayor Kim, who said, "I don’t think saving lives is only achieved through grand and impressive projects. I am constantly coming up with ideas to ensure health and safety in daily life," also mentioned a recent fire in a substation of an apartment complex in the district.

"To be honest, I was shocked. Fortunately, there were no major casualties, but more than 1,000 households lost access to water and electricity and immediately had nowhere to sleep, causing great inconvenience for the residents."

"Yangcheon District quickly established an integrated support center, dispatched water trucks to supply daily water, and provided bottled water and emergency relief supplies. The biggest issue was the toilets. We installed two temporary toilets and opened the toilets at nearby senior centers and welfare centers for residents to use."

Although the fire occurred during the summer vacation season, the recovery process was swift. Emergency meetings were held to determine the responsibilities of each department, and cooperation with related organizations was quickly established.

Mayor Kim Suyoung stated, "Safety and welfare are all about timing. Providing services at the right time and not missing the golden hour to save lives-these are essential. A society that is closely connected in every corner is inevitably strong in both safety and welfare."

Mayor Kim also emphasized, "I heard that Yangcheon District ranked second in Seoul for Care SOS service performance in the first half of this year. I am eager for our district to lead the way in welfare and safety, which are directly linked to residents’ lives, more than any other local government." She added, "Going forward, I will spare no effort to build a neighborhood safety net where everyone can care for one another, creating a society where the character for 'person' (人), representing people connected to each other, truly comes to life."

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