Gangnam-gu, Saudi Arabia and 17 Middle Eastern Countries Export 'Overseas Promotional Videos'... Dobong-gu Recycling Sorting Facility Completed

[Seoul District News] Gangnam-gu Expands Sales Channels with 'Gangnam Insiders Picks' at Content Market to Attract Potential Tourists... Gangbuk-gu Operates Seasonal Fine Dust Management Until March... Gangdong-gu Designates Cheonho A1-2 Area as Land Transaction Permission Zone... Dobong-gu Leads Waste Reduction with Completion of Recycling Sorting Facility... Jung-gu Overhauls Cleaning System (Reducing Cleaning Contractors from 6 to 4, Extending to Alleyways)... Gwangjin-gu Raises Veterans' Welfare Allowance from 30,000 to 50,000 Won per Month

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) signed a distribution contract on the 1st for its self-produced overseas promotional video ‘Gangnam Insiders Picks’ with 17 countries including Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, and Saudi Arabia.

Gangnam-gu participated online in ATF, which started in December following the world’s largest video content market ‘MIPCOM’ held in Cannes, France, last October, promoting content to officials from 50 companies in over 40 countries worldwide. The first export contract was signed with the Jordanian company ‘Media Marketing & Production est.’ which participated in MIPCOM.

Since 2019, Gangnam-gu has been producing ‘Gangnam Insiders Picks,’ a series about Gangnam’s history, culture, and tourism, jointly with Arirang TV, each episode about 20 minutes long, and broadcasting it through Singapore’s CNA (Channel News Asia) to introduce Gangnam to the world. Currently in its third season, it is broadcast to 87 million households in 27 countries.

District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun said, “We are currently negotiating broadcasts in four languages including African languages with other companies,” adding, “We will make various efforts to revitalize tourism.”

Gangnam-gu is actively promoting overseas, including broadcasting a 60-second promotional video through CNN to 29 countries. News of Gangnam-gu’s participation in MIPCOM has attracted attention from global media such as BBC, the top American entertainment magazine ‘Variety,’ ‘The Daily Television’ (USA), and ‘The World News’ (Italy).

The appearance of fine dust seasonal management implementation in Gangbuk-gu before and after (December last year)

Gangbuk-gu (District Mayor Park Gyeom-su) will intensively implement the seasonal fine dust management system until March.

This seasonal management system is a reduction measure implemented to reduce the concentration of high fine dust that mainly occurs during certain periods. According to the Ministry of Environment, the average concentration of ultrafine dust from December to March was 1.7 times higher than during other periods. 80% of the days with high concentrations fall within this period.

Accordingly, Gangbuk-gu set nine core tasks in four major areas: transportation, workplaces, exposure reduction, and heating. First, it strengthened the crackdown on vehicle emissions and idling and inspected private vehicle inspection centers. It conducted a full inspection focusing on 59 workplaces emitting air pollutants and scattered dust.

Additionally, the district checked whether large buildings with high energy consumption maintained an appropriate temperature below 20°C. It strengthened the inspection of air purification facilities in 27 multi-use facilities and increased cleaning of major arterial roads to four times a day. During the seasonal management period, households that reduce electricity, city gas, and water usage by 20% can receive eco-mileage worth about 10,000 won.

Gangbuk District Mayor Park Gyeom-su said, “To reduce fine dust, everyone must maintain continuous interest and start with small practical actions in daily life,” adding, “We will take the lead in reducing fine dust to improve air quality and protect residents’ health.”

Gangdong-gu (District Mayor Lee Jung-hoon) announced that as of the 28th of last month, 30,154㎡ in the Cheonho-dong area (tentatively named Cheonho A1-2 District) has been designated as a land transaction permission zone.

A land transaction permission zone can be designated by the mayor or governor under Article 10 of the Act on Reporting and Inspection of Real Estate Transactions to facilitate smooth establishment and execution of national land use and management plans, rational land use, and to prevent speculative land transactions or rapid land price increases in certain areas or where such concerns exist.

When designated as a land transaction permission zone, acquiring land exceeding a certain area requires prior notification and permission from the district office, and the land must be used only for the permitted purpose during the specified period.

Seoul City held a ‘Private Redevelopment Candidate Site Selection Committee’ for 59 sites finally recommended out of 102 applicants for the Rapid Integrated Planning Private Redevelopment Contest, selecting and announcing 21 sites on December 28 last year. The city explained that it comprehensively reviewed urgency, project feasibility, and Seoul city policy requirements for each area.

The Cheonho-dong area (tentatively Cheonho A1-2 District) was included, and Seoul designated it as a land transaction permission zone to block speculative demand inflow.

The designation period is from January 2, 2022, to January 1, 2023, and permission is required for land exceeding 18㎡ in residential areas.

The permission procedure requires applicants to submit a permission application, land use plan, and funding plan to the district office, which reviews the contract details and usage plans and notifies approval or disapproval within 15 days.

If a contract is made without permission or change of permission during the permission period, or if permission is obtained by fraudulent means, a penalty of up to two years imprisonment or a fine up to 30% of the land price based on the individual official land price at the time of contract will be imposed.

A district official urged, “If abnormal transactions such as actual transaction details are found for these rapid integrated planning private redevelopment candidate sites, we will respond strictly. Please be careful not to suffer any disadvantages.”

Dobong-gu (District Mayor Lee Dong-jin) completed the modernization of its recycling sorting center (Resource Circulation Center, Dobong-ro 969) with the latest equipment on December 28 last year and will operate it in full scale from this year.

The Dobong-gu recycling sorting center was renovated with a total project cost of 5.6 billion won, covering 1,208㎡ above ground and 1,944㎥ underground, with a daily processing capacity of 55 tons.

Underground facilities include a bag opening and quantitative feeder, sorting conveyor, density ballistic sorter, optical automatic sorter, compressor, and gas can cutter, while above ground houses the recycling intake area and Styrofoam crusher.

In particular, the optical sorter analyzes near-infrared and visible light to detect material and color, excellently sorting colored and transparent PET, PE, PS, PP plastics. The entire process is automated with an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) sensor and edge computer system that collects and analyzes data, linking collected information to a server database for big data analysis to achieve maximum processing capacity.

The district expects this modernization to dramatically increase the recycling sorting rate to over 60%, contributing to waste reduction at the source and realization of a circular economy. It also plans to promote the recycling sorting process and conduct tours for residents in the future.

Dobong District Mayor Lee Dong-jin inspected the newly built recycling sorting center in December and said, “Through this modernization, we expect to enhance sorting functions and contribute to carbon neutrality. I ask all residents to actively separate recyclables in daily life.”

Jung-gu, Seoul (District Mayor Seo Yang-ho) announced that it will significantly reorganize its cleaning system starting January this year to provide resident-centered cleaning administrative services.

First, changes were made to the cleaning outsourcing system. Jung-gu is the smallest district in Seoul in terms of area and population. Nevertheless, six cleaning outsourcing companies, more than the Seoul average of 4.5, have been handling cleaning tasks. This overly segmented outsourcing system caused residents more inconvenience and confusion from purchasing volume-based waste bags to waste disposal.

Accordingly, the district conducted a research project on household waste treatment last year to efficiently adjust the number of outsourcing companies and service areas. Based on the results, the number of outsourcing companies was reduced to four, and the service areas were adjusted to four zones. Competitive outsourcing companies were selected through open competitive bidding.

Along with this, the cleaning work system for sanitation workers was reorganized. The system changed from a street (arterial road)-centered work system to a district unit system, introducing the first regional cleanliness responsibility system in a local government. The district was divided into four zones, each with a team leader responsible for cleanliness management in their area. The cleaning scope of sanitation workers, previously focused only on streets (arterial roads), was expanded to residential back streets and alleys reflecting residents’ demands.

An official from Jung-gu’s Cleaning Administration Department said, “This reorganization will enable smooth responsibility-based collection by zone, and deploying cleaning professionals to residential back streets and alleys will greatly improve cleanliness around living areas.”

As a preliminary step for the outsourcing system reorganization, the district unified volume-based waste bags into one type in January last year, allowing purchase and use anywhere in Jung-gu regardless of neighborhood. This resolved residents’ inconvenience of having to use only the designated waste bags of their neighborhood’s outsourcing company. Also, to prevent safety accidents for sanitation workers during waste collection, the maximum capacity of garbage bags was reduced from 100 liters to 75 liters.

Additionally, the district implements various policies to solve waste problems, such as the ‘Village Clean Coordinator’ project focusing on cleaning vulnerable areas using social job manpower, the online resource circulation education program ‘Our Neighborhood Earth Care,’ and support for the environmental study club ‘Earth Saving Group.’

In October last year, the district opened the ‘Waste Research Institute Saerom,’ a specialized education facility for waste problem solutions, which has received great response. Through eco-friendly resource circulation education and exhibitions, it raises awareness of environmental pollution issues and serves as a guide to help residents practice eco-friendly habits in daily life.

Jung-gu District Mayor Seo Yang-ho said, “We will continue to gather residents’ opinions and improve the cleaning system so that residents can live in a clean and pleasant environment.”

Gwangjin-gu (District Mayor Kim Seon-gap) will increase the veterans’ honor allowance to honor national veterans who devoted themselves to the country and contribute to improving their welfare.

From this year, the veterans’ honor allowance for national veterans will be raised from the existing 30,000 won per month to 50,000 won per month. It plans to increase it to 70,000 won from 2025.

The recipients are national veterans or their families registered as residents in Gwangjin-gu, including patriotic martyrs, war casualties, deceased or injured soldiers, recipients of the Order of Military Merit, and veterans. However, those receiving the Seoul City veterans’ honorary allowance will not receive duplicate payments.

The district first established the veterans’ honor allowance in 2019, providing 30,000 won monthly to national veterans residing in Gwangjin-gu for more than three months.

In 2020, the payment condition was relaxed from three months after moving to Gwangjin-gu to immediate payment, and in 2021, the number of payments was expanded from nine times a year excluding Lunar New Year, Memorial Month, and Chuseok to twelve times a year.

Applications can be made at the resident registration neighborhood community center, and support is applied from the month of application.

If the recipient moves out of the district, payment is made until the month of moving out; if deceased, until the month of death.

Gwangjin District Mayor Kim Seon-gap said, “It is our duty and responsibility to repay those who shared the pain of our history by increasing the veterans’ honor allowance,” adding, “We will strengthen respect for national veterans by raising it to 70,000 won by 2025.”

Dongjak-gu (District Mayor Lee Chang-woo) announced that ahead of the Im-in year Lunar New Year holiday, it will conduct ‘Lunar New Year Traditional Market Safety Inspections and Events’ to ensure the safety and convenience of residents visiting traditional markets.

Traditional markets have aging facilities and densely packed stores, so if a fire breaks out in one store, flames can spread to adjacent stores and buildings.

To reduce fire risks in traditional markets, the district installed an IoT-based early fire detection system inside stores at Namseong Sagye Market in 2019.

This year, to prevent safety accidents, from the 5th to the 20th, safety inspections will be conducted on 16 traditional markets in the area for proactive response.

The inspections will be conducted jointly by district officials and external experts according to checklists in architecture, fire safety, electricity, gas, and quarantine.

After inspections, if serious defects or risks are found in open stores or aging facilities, the district plans to take prompt repair and reinforcement measures to prevent disasters.

Additionally, from January 17 to February 2, the district will hold ‘Traditional Market Lunar New Year Events’ to facilitate residents’ market use during the holiday.

The events will be held in five traditional markets and shopping districts including Seongdae Traditional Market and Namseong Sagye Market, featuring discounts on ritual and quality goods, sharing of rice cakes of love, and prize events. Each event may end early if gift stocks run out.

Most importantly, during the event period, traditional markets will sell high-quality livestock products, fruits, and other Lunar New Year ritual goods at discounts up to 10%.

For other details regarding the Lunar New Year traditional market safety inspections and events, contact the Economic Promotion Division.

Yang Hye-young, head of the Economic Promotion Division, said, “We hope this Lunar New Year will revitalize traditional markets and alleyway businesses, which play a central role in the local economy, and that residents can safely use the markets and share warm affection with their families.”

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