[Interview] Jung Won-oh, Seongdong District Mayor: "Even Small Changes Tangible in Residents' Daily Lives Are Welfare"

Implementation of 'On-Site Thawing Support Service' for Immediate Winter Frozen Pipe Repairs... Steady Seongdong Civil Complaint Task Force Resolves 705 Issues for 423 Households This Year, Establishing Close-to-Life Administration

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “We will carefully examine and resolve even the minor inconveniences that people usually take for granted in their daily lives.”

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said in an interview with Asia Economy, “Even small changes that residents can feel in their daily lives are welfare,” and added, “All departments in Seongdong-gu are actively discovering life-centered policies.” He then introduced the ‘Visiting Thawing Support Service’ that started on the 1st of this month.

In January this year, when heavy snow and cold waves continued, the district heard that some residents were struggling to wash or cook because their water pipes suddenly froze. In response, they immediately formed six emergency dispatch teams with 12 specialized technical personnel from the Seongdong-gu Urban Management Corporation. Mayor Jung explained, “Usually, when water pipes freeze and burst, people contact the waterworks office, but when the workload piles up all at once, residents may have to wait in line and endure inconvenience for a long time. This inconvenience is especially severe for vulnerable households,” which led to the conception of this project.

The emergency dispatch teams of the ‘Visiting Thawing Support Service’ promptly visit the homes of those who report issues, inspect the condition of the water pipes, and take swift initial measures such as melting ice inside the pipes. If meters or other equipment are damaged and replacement or repair costs occur, the service guides residents to receive repair cost support linked with the Seoul-type Emergency Welfare Support. Any resident living in a vulnerable household, such as basic livelihood security recipients or near-poverty groups, can apply at their local community service center. Since the project’s launch in January, residents have responded positively, and it will now be operated regularly for four months every winter starting this year.

As part of life-centered projects, the ‘Chakchak Seongdong Mobile Civil Complaint Service,’ which has been operating for four years, is also popular among residents. This service quickly resolves various repair needs for vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities and elderly living alone by visiting them directly. Requests often include replacing lights and faucets, installing insect screens in summer, and installing gas timers, insulating air caps, and weatherstripping in winter. Free repair services are provided up to three times a year per household within a material cost limit of 100,000 KRW. This year alone, 705 inconveniences were resolved for 423 households. Mayor Jung said, “For those with mobility difficulties or the elderly, even small inconveniences in daily life feel significant,” and added, “The high level of resident satisfaction has established this as an essential project.”

Since July 2018, the district has established a Life-Centered Policy Team and has been discovering various life-centered projects. Popular services include knife sharpening, umbrella, and bicycle repair services. Residents also propose life-centered ideas through online platforms such as ‘Seongdong Residents’ Hall’ and the ‘Life-Centered Policy Idea Contest.’ Ideas from residents such as the ‘Priority Parking Zones for Strollers’ launched in July last year and the ‘PET Bottle Label Removal Stick’ introduced in April this year have been realized as actual life-centered policies.

Seongdong-gu has been practicing meticulous and prompt administrative services that listen to residents’ voices, and has been selected as the top institution for four consecutive years in the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Comprehensive Civil Service Evaluation.’ Recently, it achieved the great success of being selected as the best institution in the autonomous district category of the ‘2021 Civil Service Excellence Evaluation’ conducted by Seoul City, ranking first in all evaluation items.

Mayor Jung Won-oh said, “We will continue to realize residents’ ‘small but certain happiness’ through policies that improve small inconveniences in daily life.”

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