Why Did Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, Create a 200,000 Won Entrance Congratulatory Gift for Elementary School Students?

Last Year, Jung Won-oh, Head of the Welfare Grand Negotiation TF Team at the Seoul City District Mayors' Council, Shined as a Key Figure in Realizing Universal Educational Welfare Including Free Kindergarten Meals

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The policy enabling elementary school students across all autonomous districts in Seoul to receive the same enrollment preparation funds has been realized, bringing renewed attention to the Welfare Grand Compromise.

Starting this year, all autonomous districts in Seoul will provide 200,000 KRW per student as enrollment preparation funds to new elementary school students, expanding the scope of support from last year’s target group of middle and high school entrants to cover elementary, middle, and high school students comprehensively.

This achievement in eliminating welfare inequality between regions is analyzed as a result of the Welfare Grand Compromise aimed at “orderly and non-discriminatory welfare.”

The realization of a policy where elementary students across all autonomous districts in Seoul receive equal enrollment preparation funds was achieved through long-term compromise and coordination.

To resolve welfare inequality between districts caused by school uniform support projects pursued only by some districts, from last year, all autonomous districts in Seoul, the Seoul Metropolitan Government, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education began a joint cooperation project targeting middle and high school students.

Since joint cooperation among multiple institutions was required, there were difficulties in agreeing on budget sharing, support criteria, and support procedures for each institution. However, the Welfare Grand Compromise TF of the Seoul Association of District Mayors, led by Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, actively played the role of mediator by coordinating disagreements among districts and leading multiple rounds of consultations with the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education and the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

Previously, Seongdong-gu has made various efforts to rationally redefine the differing welfare benefits among districts, which not only cause inequality among residents but also lead to populist and competitive welfare expenditures, placing a financial burden on local governments, in order to establish a sustainable welfare system.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, took charge of the Welfare Grand Compromise TF Team of the Seoul Association of District Mayors to build a sustainable welfare system, achieving autonomous consultations between Seoul and the districts centered on three major social welfare projects. He also played a pivotal role in preparing a unified support plan to eliminate benefit inequalities caused by differential support of childbirth congratulatory money and veterans’ honor allowances by district.

Following the agreement ceremony on the 8th of last month, the district, which pledged to actively implement free meals in kindergartens, plans to actively pursue universal educational welfare by also supporting the joint purchase project of eco-friendly rice and domestically produced kimchi, which has been provided to elementary, middle, and high schools.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, said, “I hope this enrollment preparation fund support policy will help ease the economic burden on families going through difficult times due to COVID-19 and contribute to the realization of universal educational welfare.” He added, “We will continue to strive so that all students can receive education equally.”

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