[Photo] Seoul Gangseo, Gwangjin, Yangcheon, Geumcheon, Jongno-gu Snow Removal Task Force Enters 24-Hour Emergency Duty System

[Seoul District Photo News] Gwangjin-gu Holds 2021 Winter Comprehensive Measures Establishment and Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Opening Ceremony... Geumcheon-gu Receives Korean Red Cross Appreciation Plaque

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] On the 15th at 4:30 p.m., Roh Hyun-song, Mayor of Gangseo-gu, Seoul, held the inauguration ceremony of the Snow Removal Countermeasures Headquarters on the 6th floor of the district office and conducted a final inspection of the snow removal preparations.

The Snow Removal Countermeasures Headquarters, led by Mayor Roh Hyun-song as the head and composed of a working group and snow removal teams in each neighborhood, will operate a 24-hour emergency duty system for four months until March 15, 2022.

The district has prepared for sudden heavy snowfall by equipping a total of 72 snow removal machines across 10 types, including large spreaders and multipurpose snow removal vehicles, and stockpiled 916 tons of calcium chloride and salt, 285 tons of eco-friendly snow removal agents, and 25 tons of sand.

In particular, to ensure on-site situation management and prompt snow removal work, an organic cooperation system among civilians, government, military, and police has been established. Additionally, 29 automatic brine spraying devices are operated on eight steep hill sections, including Yeomchang Elementary School and Sinjeong Elementary School.

Mayor Roh Hyun-song said, “Due to recent abnormal weather, damage caused by heavy rain and heavy snow is becoming increasingly severe,” and urged, “All staff should make every effort to respond to protect residents' safety from winter disaster situations.”

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) established the ‘2021 Winter Comprehensive Measures’ to ensure that residents can spend a safe and healthy winter from various disasters, and held the opening ceremony of the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 15th.

This year’s winter comprehensive measures aim to prioritize residents’ safety and health by establishing a response system for various situations such as cold waves, snow removal, and COVID-19 infection prevention for four months from the 15th of this month to March 15, 2022.

First, starting with the ‘Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Opening Ceremony’ on the 15th, the district formed a disaster safety countermeasures headquarters to prepare for sudden heavy snowfall and will operate it 24 hours a day.

At the opening ceremony, Mayor Kim Seon-gap of Gwangjin-gu and executives from the district and neighborhoods gathered to listen to the progress of snow removal measures and encourage the staff.

The Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters is composed of 13 working teams, including the Situation Management General Team, Facility Emergency Recovery Team, and Emergency Living Stability Support Team, with the mayor as the head. It monitors weather conditions 24 hours a day and initiates emergency duty in stages when weather warnings are issued.

To promote rapid snow removal, the district plans to conduct pre-inspections of snow removal equipment, establish a response system for heavy snowfall, operate a snow removal situation room, and promote a ‘Clear Snow in Front of My House and Store’ campaign along with activities of the snow removal volunteer group for a public-private joint snow removal strategy.

This year’s winter comprehensive measures also focus more on preventing the spread of COVID-19. By operating a COVID-19 emergency quarantine response team, a rapid response quarantine system is established to thoroughly respond to infection outbreaks, including confirmed case management, epidemiological investigations, and home treatment linkage.

Additionally, the waiting area at screening clinics has been expanded with windbreak sections to provide a warmer testing environment, and promotional efforts on quarantine rules such as mandatory mask-wearing at high-risk and multi-use facilities will be strengthened.

Furthermore, the district has prepared to protect vulnerable groups from the winter cold wave by operating 58 cold wave shelters including neighborhood community centers, promoting the ‘Warm Winter Hope Ondol’ project, supporting heating supplies for low-income households, checking on and providing cold protection supplies to elderly living alone during winter, and supporting meals for children at risk of food insecurity.

Other measures include operating a wildfire prevention countermeasures headquarters for on-site fire prevention activities, safety inspections of major disaster-vulnerable facilities such as traditional markets, construction sites, sports centers, and performance halls, focused management of areas vulnerable to illegal dumping, and price stabilization management through a price countermeasures team and winter price inspections to ensure residents’ convenience.

Mayor Kim Seon-gap of Gwangjin-gu said, “We will strive to implement effective comprehensive measures to protect residents’ safety and health during winter and do our best to prepare various policies for a warm return to daily life.”

Kim Soo-young, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu, on the 15th afternoon at the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Situation Room of Yangcheon-gu Office, urged thorough efforts in promoting snow removal measures for residents’ safety during winter at the inauguration ceremony of the Snow Removal Countermeasures Headquarters.

Mayor Kim said, “Only thorough preparation and the establishment of a rapid response system can prevent residents’ inconvenience caused by heavy snowfall this winter,” adding, “We have reinforced and additionally deployed various snow removal equipment and storage boxes, so we ask residents to actively participate in clearing snow in front of their homes for their families and neighbors during heavy snow.”

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) will implement the ‘2021-2022 Winter Comprehensive Measures’ until March 15, 2022, to ensure that all residents can spend the winter safely and warmly.

The district will promote detailed measures in four areas: health and environment, cold wave, snow removal, and safety to prevent various disasters and accidents and protect vulnerable groups.

First, under the ‘Health and Environment Measures,’ the Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, composed of six teams including the Infectious Disease Management Team and Medical Resource Management Team, will operate 24 hours a day. The infectious disease control center and screening clinics will be operated continuously, and management of self-quarantined individuals will be strengthened to fully prevent the resurgence of COVID-19 during winter.

For the ‘Cold Wave Measures,’ a cold wave countermeasure promotion team will be formed, and when a cold wave warning is issued, a cold wave countermeasures headquarters led by the deputy mayor will operate to manage the cold wave situation in real time.

Especially, to protect welfare blind spots vulnerable to cold waves, visiting welfare services will be strengthened. Welfare planners and visiting nurses will visit high-risk households such as single-person households or those with mental illness or alcoholism, utilizing human safety nets such as the Tongtong Hope Narae Group, elderly living alone life managers, and welfare community leaders to prepare for emergency crisis situations.

Additionally, through the ‘Warm Winter Hope Ondol’ project, the district will promote a culture of sharing within the community and provide living safety supplies such as quarantine and cold protection kits to 3,000 vulnerable households including elderly living alone.

For the ‘Snow Removal Measures,’ the Snow Removal Countermeasures Headquarters, led by the mayor, will be activated from November 15. It consists of 13 working teams that manage disaster situations 24 hours a day during normal times and implement snow removal measures according to the emergency stage during emergencies.

This year, road heating cables will be installed on a 1.1 km section of Geumha-ro, which has steep slopes and heavy traffic. Fixed brine spraying devices will be additionally installed on the export bridge overpass, a snow removal vulnerable area, and video information-linked monitoring will be conducted at 20 vulnerable snow removal points to strengthen initial snow removal response capabilities.

For the ‘Safety Measures,’ joint intensive inspections will be conducted on 269 disaster-vulnerable facilities such as major construction sites and multi-use facilities by related departments, relevant agencies, and external experts. Administrative actions will be taken for violations of individual laws, and urgent safety measures such as repairs, reinforcements, or usage restrictions will be implemented if serious defects or risks are found. Minor issues will be corrected immediately on-site.

Additionally, the district will promote various measures for residents’ safe winter, including management of illegal and substandard food during winter, response to fine dust, stabilization of the living economy, stable energy supply, enhancement of public transportation capacity, and wildfire prevention.

Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon of Geumcheon-gu said, “This winter is expected to have significant temperature fluctuations overall,” and added, “We will do our best to minimize damage caused by various winter disasters, protect residents’ precious lives and property, and ensure that residents can spend a warm winter by implementing the ‘Winter Comprehensive Measures.’”

Jongno-gu will implement the ‘2021 Winter Comprehensive Measures’ for four months from November 15 to March 15, 2022, to ensure that all residents can spend this winter warmly and safely.

This year, the focus will be on ‘health measures’ to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and influenza, ‘safety measures’ to prevent and promptly respond to accidents and fires, and ‘life-oriented measures’ that residents can feel, preparing thoroughly for unexpected situations.

Accordingly, in line with the transition to ‘gradual recovery of daily life,’ detailed measures in five areas?health and environment, cold wave, snow removal, safety, and livelihood?will be implemented, including meticulous management of the COVID-19 quarantine system and strengthened crisis-level measures such as emergency reduction actions for fine dust.

First, under health and environment measures, the COVID-19 Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters emergency system will be maintained, and guidance on social distancing and strengthened inspection of quarantine rules will be conducted in accordance with gradual recovery of daily life. Additionally, COVID-19 booster shots and free influenza vaccinations will be expanded, and inspections of agricultural, fishery, and livestock product distribution businesses will be carried out during the year-end and New Year holidays.

To respond to fine dust, dust-generating business sites will be monitored, and road dust suction vehicles will be expanded during high concentrations of fine dust. Seasonal waste such as kimchi-making waste, briquette ash, and fallen leaves will be collected promptly to avoid inconvenience to residents. To prevent safety accidents among sanitation workers, repairs to rest area electrical facilities and safety education will be promoted.

Jongno-gu will maintain thorough preparedness for cold wave situations by operating a cold wave task force team during normal times and a disaster safety countermeasures headquarters during emergencies, striving for rapid situation dissemination and resident safety.

Accordingly, neighborhood officers and welfare planners will focus on identifying vulnerable single-person households during winter in connection with surveys. Guidance, counseling, and patrols will be conducted in homeless-dense areas and jjokbang (tiny room) districts, and warm supplies such as hot packs and sleeping bags, as well as quarantine supplies like masks and hand sanitizers, will be carefully provided.

Gas shut-off devices will be installed in vulnerable residents’ homes along with food provision, and free meals and welfare checks will be conducted for elderly with mobility difficulties by deploying personnel from comprehensive welfare centers. During cold wave warnings, neighborhood community centers, welfare centers, and senior centers will be designated and operated as cold wave shelters.

Jongno-gu designates snow removal responsibility areas, working on major arterial roads, sidewalks, and residential back streets separately, and uses small-packaged eco-friendly snow removal agents to improve work convenience. Approximately 80 IoT-based snow removal box systems operate in the area, and sand and calcium chloride are spread while maintaining facilities to prevent safety accidents at bus stops. Pre-inspections of village bus companies are also conducted.

As part of safety measures, joint public-private inspections and self-inspections will be conducted on 22 traditional markets, elderly welfare facilities, and facilities for the disabled to carefully manage facilities. Additionally, inspection teams will be formed to check 85 cultural heritage sites and 10 major cultural properties including Munmyo, verifying drainage, fire extinguishing, and electrical equipment conditions. For park and green space facility management, hazardous trees will be removed, and protective screens and buffer green belts will be installed to prevent damage to street trees caused by strong winds or heavy snow.

For livelihood stabilization, a comprehensive price countermeasures situation room composed of a distribution guidance team monitoring price trends and a market activation team managing traditional markets and large marts will operate from mid-December to January 8 next year. As part of stable fuel supply measures, supervision and control of city gas and LP gas will be strengthened, petroleum products will be required to display sales prices, and sales outlets will be guided to maintain stockpiling capacity for briquettes.

Geumcheon-gu (Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon) received a plaque of appreciation from the Korean Red Cross on the 15th at the small conference room of Geumcheon-gu Office.

The district has conducted blood donations annually since 2006 to save neighbors’ lives and create a healthy society. In 2019, it signed a blood donation agreement with the Korean Red Cross Seoul Southern Blood Center to participate regularly in blood donation campaigns for stable blood supply.

In appreciation, the Korean Red Cross presented a plaque of appreciation to Geumcheon-gu, whose many employees actively participated in regular blood donations, especially contributing to overcoming the blood supply crisis caused by COVID-19 last year.

Mayor Yoo Sung-hoon of Geumcheon-gu said, “Taking this award as an opportunity, we hope our district will participate more actively in blood donation campaigns to help medical sites facing ongoing blood shortages due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.”

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, attended the ‘Poetry Recitation Contest with Residents’ held at the small auditorium on the 6th floor of the district office at 6 p.m. on the 15th.

The event, hosted by the Nowon Literary Association, was organized to relieve the literary thirst accumulated due to COVID-19 through a poetry recitation contest and to share the emotional impact of literature amid busy daily lives.

Residents who applied in advance recited poems, and outstanding reciters were awarded.

The event was attended by Mayor Oh Seung-rok, the president and executives of the Nowon Literary Association, and participants, proceeding with congratulatory speeches, poetry recitations, awards, and commemorative photos.

Mayor Oh Seung-rok, who attended the event, recited Do Jong-hwan’s poem ‘Ivy’ and said, “Reading a poem aloud syllable by syllable brings each word into the heart differently than just reading with the eyes,” and added, “I look forward to the Nowon Literary Association’s continuous activities to widely promote literature.”

Chae Hyun-il, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu, attended the ‘2021 Yeongdeungpo Age-Friendly City Forum’ held at KR Convention in Dangsan-dong on the afternoon of the 15th and delivered the opening remarks.

The forum was organized to share international trends on aging societies and discuss future directions. After the opening ceremony, experts in related fields gave presentations, followed by a lively panel discussion on creating an age-friendly city in Yeongdeungpo.

Mayor Chae said, “Please continue to show interest and support for Yeongdeungpo’s vigorous steps to lead age-friendly cities,” and added, “We will put more effort into realizing a better Yeongdeungpo where all generations, including the elderly, can live happy lives throughout their lifetime.”

Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) held the 2021 Saengsaeng Cultural Heritage ‘Baekje Royal Capital Journey’ at Pungnap Baekje Cultural Park on the 13th.

Songpa-gu operates the ‘Saengsaeng Cultural Heritage’ project to actively utilize local cultural heritage so that its unique value and meaning can be newly discovered and experienced.

This ‘Baekje Royal Capital Journey’ was organized as a historical and cultural experience activity recreating various workshops from the Hanseong Baekje period as part of the Saengsaeng Cultural Heritage project.

Participants experienced making spinning tops with the su-maksa pattern excavated from Pungnap Earthen Fortress, making bead bracelets inspired by glass beads excavated from Seokchon-dong Tumuli, making Hanseong Baekje cubes, making Baekje pop-up towers, and family-participation activities such as weaving bracelets and coasters and making Baekje herbal medicine books that introduced medical techniques to Japan.

Additionally, without prior registration, anyone could freely participate in traditional games such as Tuho throwing, Jegichagi, and Biseokchigi, as well as nostalgic childhood games like marbles and ttakji, encouraging active participation.

In particular, the event provided an opportunity to understand life in the Baekje era, evoke nostalgia for adults’ childhoods, and introduce fading traditional games to children, creating a harmonious atmosphere between local residents and cultural heritage. The event was conducted safely by strictly following quarantine rules such as venue disinfection, mandatory mask-wearing, visitor logs, and temperature checks to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Mayor Park Seong-su of Songpa-gu said, “We hope that through the ‘Baekje Royal Capital Journey,’ families had a special time enjoying cultural heritage in daily life,” and added, “We will continue to discover easy and fun historical experience content and help Songpa become a living history education experience site.”

Seongbuk-gu (Mayor Lee Seung-ro) Gireum New Town Desiang Apartments held the ‘Joyful Imagination Gireum Desiang Music Concert’ in the complex park on the 9th, hosted by the Residents’ Representative Meeting and the community activation group ‘Desiang Volunteer Group.’

The first part captivated residents’ hearts with familiar classical pieces such as ‘Salut d’Amour’ and ‘O Sole Mio’ performed by The Eoulim Ensemble’s violin, viola, and cello trio. The second part added romance to the deepening autumn night with a splendid saxophone duo performance. The final stage featured an actual resident representative singer who passionately sang ‘Purple Postcard’ and ‘A Friend Like Medicine,’ receiving applause from neighbors and creating a meaningful time.

Despite the sudden chilly weather and rain, residents stayed in their seats inside the tent or watched from their balconies, giving loud applause and cheers until evening.

Hwang Chung-hyun, chairman of the Gireum Desiang Residents’ Representative Meeting, said, “We are grateful to hold a music concert that residents can enjoy through support for community activation projects, celebrating the long-awaited apartment name change in August. We hope everyone had a happy time enjoying the performance, even if only briefly.”

Mayor Lee Seung-ro of Seongbuk-gu said, “I hope this apartment cultural event will comfort and heal residents who have been exhausted by COVID-19 for a long time,” and added, “We will continue to support various community activities that allow neighbors to communicate in daily life so that the disconnected daily life and community can be restored.”

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