Gwangjin-gu, 2022 Budget Set at 732.3 Billion Won... Enhancing Regional Value and Advancing COVID-19 Response

Allocated 732.3 Billion Won, an Increase of 122.3 Billion Won (20.04%) Compared to This Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) has prepared the 2022 budget at 732.3 billion KRW, an increase of 122.3 billion KRW (20.04%) compared to this year.

This is the first time in Gwangjin-gu's history that the budget has exceeded 700 billion KRW, and it is the highest growth rate among Seoul's autonomous districts.

The 2022 budget focuses on enhancing quarantine measures to block the spread of COVID-19, supporting small business owners and self-employed individuals, revitalizing the local economy, and restoring daily life vitality. Additionally, efforts were made to expand citizen-centered new projects that allow residents to feel changes in Gwangjin in their daily lives and projects that can increase regional value.

◇ Urban Development and Residential Environment Improvement to Enhance Gwangjin's Regional Value

The district has allocated a total budget of 32.3 billion KRW for urban development reflecting changes in local conditions and expansion of citizen convenience facilities to boost regional value. To promote sustainable urban development, 500 million KRW was allocated for the redevelopment of the Konkuk University Station district unit plan and the Dongil-ro district unit plan service. 1 billion KRW was allocated for the Guri Station area central business district-type urban regeneration project and the Huayang-dong and Neungdong alleyway regeneration projects. For improving urban aesthetics, 3.7 billion KRW was allocated for undergrounding projects. To expand convenience facilities for residents, 1.5 billion KRW was invested in building the Achasan Forest Library, 900 million KRW for the lifelong learning center, and 300 million KRW for the Gunja-dong complex public library. To secure parking lots in low-rise residential dense areas, a record-high 19.5 billion KRW was allocated for public parking lot construction.

In addition, 33.8 billion KRW was allocated for cleaning administrative services to create a cleaner city, an increase of 4.9 billion KRW from the previous year.

◇ Preventing COVID-19 Spread and Damage Support through Advanced Quarantine System

First, the district allocated a total of 26.2 billion KRW to enhance the quarantine system to prevent the spread of COVID-19, ensuring residents' safety and minimizing damage.

To protect residents from COVID-19, 5.9 billion KRW was allocated for COVID-19 vaccinations, 5.9 billion KRW for COVID-19 living support expenses, and a total of 26.2 billion KRW for COVID-19 quarantine projects and securing quarantine supplies.

◇ Supporting Economic Actors such as Small Business Owners and Job Creation to Revitalize the Local Economy

The district allocated a total of 28.2 billion KRW to revitalize the local economy, which has been stagnant due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic. To promote local consumption, 3.3 billion KRW was invested in issuing Gwangjin Love Gift Certificates worth 30 billion KRW. Additionally, 270 million KRW was allocated for operating the ‘Gwangjin-type Public Delivery App’ as a project to protect self-employed alley markets, 150 million KRW for supporting small business product market development and customized management clinic support projects, and 2 billion KRW for traditional market facility and management support.

Furthermore, to support residents in overcoming economic crises, 21 billion KRW was allocated for various job projects including Gwangjin-type jobs, creating public jobs to strengthen the employment safety net.

In particular, to prepare for a new life for the 50+ generation, which accounts for more than 23% of Gwangjin residents based on registered population, 1.1 billion KRW was allocated for projects such as strengthening employment capabilities for private jobs for the 50+ generation. In addition to job support, 1 billion KRW was invested in social economy support projects such as social economy moving pop-up stores and one-day class operations.

◇ Strengthening the Gwangjin-type Social Safety Net with No Blind Spots in Care

The district will invest a total of 332.5 billion KRW to realize better lives and customized welfare. To guarantee the living rights of vulnerable groups, 88.9 billion KRW was allocated for senior basic pensions, 68.7 billion KRW for basic living security, and 26.2 billion KRW for disability support. To improve the quality of public childcare services, 64.3 billion KRW will be invested in expanding national and public daycare centers and improving childcare teacher treatment.

In particular, 400 million KRW was allocated to expand the target of the existing Gwangjin-type representative care project, the Gwangjin-type Plus Care SOS project, to include hospitalized children and families of young caregivers. Additionally, 100 million KRW was allocated to improve the treatment of social welfare facility workers in the region through welfare point support and a survey research project.

◇ Daily Life Recovery through Social and Cultural Healing for Gwangjin’s Future Children and Residents

The district allocated a total of 39.3 billion KRW for education and culture to support the dreams of Gwangjin’s future children and social and cultural healing for residents to restore daily life. 4 billion KRW was allocated for education expense subsidies to strengthen the competitiveness of public education, 6.1 billion KRW for eco-friendly free meals support, and 450 million KRW for a project providing 300,000 KRW per student as entrance preparation funds for elementary, middle, and high school students.

To allow all Gwangjin residents exhausted by COVID-19 to enjoy cultural life in their daily lives, the budget for culture and festivals was expanded, and a total of 25.2 billion KRW was allocated for support of library, cultural facilities, and public institution sports facility usage fees.

◇ Providing Customized Services that Residents Can Feel in Their Daily Lives

Through efforts and considerations to discover citizen-experienced projects that help residents' daily lives, about 12.6 billion KRW was invested in new citizen-experienced projects in various fields for 2022, aiming to ensure that Gwangjin residents can feel changes in Gwangjin-gu in their daily lives.

The existing support for children and youth village bus transportation costs was expanded year-round with a budget of 540 million KRW. 500 million KRW was allocated for residents' life safety insurance, and 170 million KRW was allocated for group insurance that added personal mobility devices to the existing bicycle group insurance, leading efforts to ensure residents' transportation convenience and safety. Additionally, as part of childbirth encouragement policies, 200 million KRW was allocated to expand the operation of the ‘Gwangjin Mom Taxi,’ a hospital visit service exclusively for pregnant women implemented since 2021, to families with infants up to 24 months old.

To support single-person households, which account for more than 48% of registered households, about 3 billion KRW was allocated for 26 projects including expanding the Gwangjin-gu Single-Person Household Support Center, supporting crime prevention services for single-person households, and providing safety supplies for women living alone, striving to provide support tailored to local characteristics.

Also, 2.5 billion KRW was allocated for youth, including new projects such as support for language test fees for unemployed youth, to support the social standing of young people.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The direction of the 2022 budget was set with the top priority on preventing the spread of COVID-19, restoring daily life, and revitalizing the local economy and residents’ vitality. I hope that 2022 will be a year when Gwangjin residents not only recover their daily lives after passing through the long tunnel of COVID-19 but also when the regional value of Gwangjin-gu can take a leap forward.”

The 2022 budget will be finalized on December 20 after review and resolution at the 2nd regular session of the 248th Gwangjin-gu Council.

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