Opening of the Protective Pavilion for the Gangdong-gu Amsa-dong Archaeological Site Remains

[Seoul District News] Gangdong-gu Amsa-dong Relic Shelter Opens, Used as Prehistoric Culture Education Space... Online Tour via YouTube at 5 PM on the 8th... Korean Human Rights Cities Council (Chair Lee Dong-jin, Dobong-gu Mayor) Holds 2021 2nd Regular General Meeting... Gangnam-gu's 100-Person 'Inconvenience Improvement Team' Practices On-Site Communication Administration... Songpa-gu Hosts Online Program for the 21st Hanseong Baekje Cultural Festival Daebaekje Exhibition

Inside the protective shelter of the Seoul Amsa-dong archaeological site remains

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) will open a new viewing facility called the ‘Relic Protection Pavilion’ at the Seoul Amsa-dong Site, Historic Site No. 267, a representative Neolithic archaeological site of Korea, on the 8th.

Previously, from 2016 to 2018, academic excavation surveys were conducted at the Amsa-dong Site to highlight its academic value. Through these excavations, several Neolithic and Three Kingdoms period dwellings that had been burned by fire were discovered, along with nearly complete comb-patterned pottery, jade ornaments, obsidian materials, and other important artifacts that provide insights into prehistoric life, attracting attention from the academic community.

The Relic Protection Pavilion is a space designed to preserve important historical traces discovered during the 2016-2017 investigations and to be used as an educational site. As part of the national subsidy project for cultural heritage restoration and maintenance, architectural design, documentation, and preservation work were carried out in 2018, construction began in 2020, and it will be opened to residents on the 8th.

The interior viewing route of the pavilion is designed to vividly reproduce the excavation site, helping visitors understand through videos and audio. Approximately 3 meters of soil layers are exhibited, allowing visitors to glimpse the formation process of the Amsa-dong Site over thousands of years from the Neolithic to the Three Kingdoms period and the traces left by ancient people.

The pavilion is open to all visitors to the Amsa-dong Site, and to commemorate its completion, it will be introduced online first through the Gangdong-gu Office YouTube channel at 5 p.m. on the 8th.

For detailed inquiries about the Amsa-dong Site Relic Protection Pavilion, contact the Culture and Arts Division of Gangdong-gu Office.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, stated, “With the completion of the construction of the Relic Protection Pavilion for the preservation of the cultural heritage of the Amsa-dong Site, we hope it will be utilized as a prehistoric culture education space.” He added, “The district will continue to do its best to preserve the cultural heritage of the historically valuable Amsa-dong Site.”

The Korean Human Rights Cities Council (Chairman Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu, Seoul) held the 2nd regular general meeting of 2021 on the 7th via a non-face-to-face video conference according to the COVID-19 social distancing level, with heads of member cities from local governments nationwide.

This 2nd regular general meeting was held for the first time in conjunction with the World Human Rights Cities Forum to express interest and commitment to human rights in local communities and to spread human rights culture. The meeting began with an opening address by Chairman Lee Dong-jin, Mayor of Dobong-gu, Seoul, followed by a mid-term report on the 2021 project progress, handling agenda items to revitalize the council, and sharing the status of human rights policies among member cities.

The Korean Human Rights Cities Council is a human rights consultative body based on policy exchange and mutual cooperation among member cities to protect and promote residents’ human rights. Founded in 2017 to ensure human rights policies at the local government level, which is at the forefront of human rights administration, it currently has 22 local governments nationwide as members.

This year, the council has continued activities to promote domestic human rights, such as issuing a declaration supporting Myanmar’s democratization movement, participating in global human rights issues, publishing a casebook sharing human rights policies, and sharing it with local governments nationwide.

Chairman Lee Dong-jin urged at the meeting, “As the Korean Human Rights Cities Council participates in the World Human Rights Cities Forum as a human rights consultative body among local governments, let us unite to lead human rights policies at the local government level.”

On the first day of the World Human Rights Cities Forum, October 6, Chairman Lee participated as a presenter in the session ‘Earth Charter for Human Rights in Cities,’ sharing Dobong-gu’s climate crisis response policies from a human rights perspective and emphasizing the importance of local governments’ roles.

Gangnam-gu (Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) operated a ‘Resident Life Minor Inconvenience Improvement Group’ consisting of 100 members from the 1st of last month to the 1st of this month, resolving 1,163 daily life inconveniences.

The improvement group addressed issues such as ▲improving sloped sidewalks that caused many slip accidents on rainy days ▲adjusting the position of convex mirrors obscured by street trees ▲cleaning sewers with many mosquitoes and flies ▲repairing damaged road facilities and illegal dumping, achieving a 60% completion rate of maintenance.

The district launched the improvement group composed of Gangnam residents including youth, seniors, and women who applied for the ‘Work Experience Program’ under the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s National Employment Support System, in collaboration with the Seoul Gangnam Employment Welfare Plus Center. The 100 members focused on listening to and improving minor inconveniences from the residents’ perspective during their activity period.

Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “I thank the improvement group for actively engaging in environmental improvements with a spirit of cooperation, consideration, and respect among us all,” adding, “We will continue to listen carefully to residents’ opinions and promote open administration worthy of ‘Elegant Gangnam.’”

Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) announced on the 8th that despite the COVID-19 situation, it has prepared various online programs so that residents can safely enjoy the district’s representative festival, the ‘Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival,’ without restrictions of time and space.

The district will hold the ‘21st Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival’ from October 8 to 10. This year, the festival is prepared as the ‘Great Baekje Festival’ in collaboration with Baekje cultural cities, featuring ▲an online parade ▲Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival with Zepeto ▲Great Baekje Golden Bell quiz competition.

First, the ‘Great Baekje Online Parade’ is an online parade program first conducted by a local government last year. This year, the program has been upgraded to reproduce the historical and cultural street procession, which was held annually on Olympic-ro, in 3D online. Participants join the parade by completing missions through their own avatars.

Participants can acquire Baekje costumes by completing missions such as ▲finding hidden Baekje relics ▲delivering hopeful messages to overcome COVID-19 ▲playing the Chiljido acquisition game. Participation is possible by accessing the Hansung Baekje Online Parade website.

The ‘Great Baekje Golden Bell’ is a program to explore the brilliant history and culture of Baekje through quizzes. About 270 participants selected through prior registration will compete in an online quiz battle on October 9. The competition is divided into family and youth categories. Prizes will be awarded to the highest scorers.

The ‘Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival with Zepeto’ is a virtual experience program available on Naver’s metaverse platform ‘Zepeto.’ It allows people to experience the Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival without limitations of time and space in the recently spotlighted metaverse. Through a map named ‘Hansung Baekje Cultural Festival with Zepeto,’ visitors can explore the Baekje Village created in the virtual world and enjoy a photo exhibition of the festival’s past 20 years.

Park Seong-su, Mayor of Songpa-gu, said, “In line with the purpose of the ‘Great Baekje Festival,’ we have prepared online programs that anyone can participate in anytime and anywhere, embodying the meaning of great unity without limiting time and space,” adding, “We will continue to plan festival programs in various ways to create a successful festival model suitable for the new era.”

Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) expanded the construction of ‘360VR content’ that allows easy viewing of local attractions via smartphones or PCs and started the service on the 8th.

By clicking the ‘Seodaemun Attractions Travel 360VR’ banner on the homepage’s main screen, users can view 360-degree virtual reality (VR) videos of 22 locations including Ansan Jarak-gil, Hongjecheon Stream, Seodaemun Prison History Hall, Lee Jin-ah Memorial Library, Sinchon Yonsei-ro, Sinchon Boxquare, and local universities in Seodaemun-gu.

Especially, visitors can see the Seodaemun Natural History Museum, which reopened last month after a full remodeling, and the Seodaemun-gu Lifelong Learning Center and Convergence Talent Education Center, which opened last year.

To help users conveniently find places they want to observe, the video content is categorized into four groups based on location characteristics: Sinchon, history and education, nature, and universities.

This service provides ultra-high-resolution images produced from aerial and ground footage, allowing users to move, rotate, zoom in, and zoom out 360 degrees around as if they were on-site.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, “At a time when outings are difficult, we expect the vivid 360VR service to help widely promote Seodaemun-gu’s attractions.”

Jongno-gu (Mayor Kim Young-jong) is holding the ‘2021 Kiwoopiwoo Object Theater Festival’ at the ‘Jongno Children’s Theater’ from September 30 to October 23.

The Jongno Children’s Theater, where the festival is held, is a professional performance hall established by Jongno-gu, a child-friendly city, as the first of its kind among local governments nationwide for children.

Now in its 6th year, the Jongno Children’s Theater presents a variety of object theater performances considering diverse themes and age groups so that children and families can enjoy together.

From September 30 to October 2, the theater group ‘Bungitangcheon’ performed the play ‘Dochaebi Bangshi,’ and from October 7 to 9, ‘Face and Face - Facing; Spring’ will be staged. This special performance was created in collaboration with the theater group ‘Ro.Gi.Narae’ and Jongno Children’s Theater for babies aged 1 year, aiming to provide unique sensory and artistic experiences and support emotional development.

Notably, only 10% of the theater’s seating capacity is allowed to ensure a safe ‘untact’ environment.

From October 14 to 16, the theater group ‘Knee Pillow’ will perform the participatory play ‘Ah, Really?!’ where the audience helps defeat the fox sister from traditional fairy tales. The performance features familiar everyday objects transforming in various ways within the story, ensuring an engaging experience.

The festival’s final performance is the barrier-free play ‘Drawing the Monster ‘Yeon’,’ performed by the theater group ‘The Bef.’ Since all stories are conveyed through sound language and body language, it will be a meaningful event accessible to visually and hearing-impaired audiences.

For children’s safety, the performance operates at 30% seating capacity, with advance reservations and family seating distancing. Family seats are arranged so that families can sit together, and seats are spaced at least two seats apart between families, considering children who find it difficult to watch separately from their parents.

For viewing inquiries, check with the Children’s Theater or its website.

Kim Young-jong, Mayor of Jongno-gu, said, “This year’s Kiwoopiwoo Object Theater Festival stages works for various age groups, from performances for infants to barrier-free plays,” adding, “We prioritize children’s safety by operating only part of the seats, implementing advance reservations and family seating distancing, and we hope many interested people will attend.”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) is operating the ‘Gocheok-dong Village Tour with a Time Traveler’ program.

Guro-gu announced on the 8th, “We have prepared a program to enjoy Guro-gu’s attractions so that residents exhausted by COVID-19 can relieve their frustration without going far,” adding, “The program is prepared in a non-face-to-face manner to ensure residents can participate safely.”

‘Gocheok-dong Village Tour with a Time Traveler’ is a walking tour course of about 2 hours that connects attractions where one can learn about the history, culture, and life of Gocheok-dong.

The course, arranged in chronological order from ancient to modern times, starts at the Gocheok-dong Dolmen, then proceeds to Neunggolsan, Yeogye Burial Site, Gocheok-dong Mural Alley, Gocheok Alley Market, Ground Gocheok, Gocheok Sky Dome, and Anyangcheon Stream.

Those interested can apply on the ‘Guro Village Tour’ website by the 29th. The participation fee is 10,000 KRW, and applicants receive a ‘Time Travel Kit’ by courier, which includes 5,000 KRW mission money, a mission book, and an eco bag. The program is limited to the first 100 applicants.

Participants use the mission book containing the tour course and missions to complete the tour, and can use the mission money like cash at all stores within Ground Gocheok.

Between October 10 and November 30, participants who post reviews of the program on social media and verify them via a Naver Office form will receive souvenirs such as the Gocheok-dong Village Tour board game and coloring book.

Guro-gu is also conducting a stamp tour ‘Gocheok-dong Time Travel’ completion event until the 31st. To participate, visit the ‘Guro-gu Smart Tourism Electronic Map’ website, select the stamp tour ‘Gocheok-dong Time Travel,’ and visit the designated points. Participants can choose between the normal mode, where stamps are automatically marked at each point, and the game mode, where they solve quizzes with the virtual character ROCY.

Among those who complete the tour, 100 people who upload their completion certificates on social media and verify them via the Naver Office form will be selected by lottery to receive coffee gifticons. Winners will be announced individually via text message and on the Guro-gu Smart Tourism Electronic Map website on November 12.

“In case of fire, wear a smoke protection mask and evacuate quickly!”

Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced that it will provide 3,000 fire evacuation smoke (wet) masks to 47 local social welfare facilities to minimize casualties in fire accidents.

With the recent dry weather increasing fire risks, this measure aims to prevent suffocation from toxic gases during fires and help residents evacuate quickly.

The facilities receiving support include ▲32 facilities for the disabled ▲5 senior welfare facilities ▲10 comprehensive social welfare centers, totaling 47 locations.

The provided smoke masks are made of special wet fabric that blocks harmful gases while allowing smooth breathing.

Especially, the masks are designed in the same form as regular masks, enabling easy and quick wearing to secure the golden time (5-10 minutes) for evacuation during the early stages of a fire. The masks help prevent smoke inhalation and inhalation burns.

The district plans to conduct facility-based training and continuous management of the masks to ensure proper use.

Mayor Noh Hyun-song said, “Initial response is crucial in disaster situations, so we will thoroughly prepare safety equipment and education,” adding, “We will continue to do our best to prevent disasters through thorough safety inspections and minimize damage in case of accidents.”

Along with the smoke masks, the district will provide acrylic storage boxes to help manage the masks. The boxes are equipped with luminous stickers for easy identification at night or during power outages.

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