Seodaemun-gu Special Crackdown on Illegal Banners During Presidential Election Campaign Period

[Seoul District News] Seodaemun-gu Prevents Proliferation of Party and Commercial Banners Exploiting Presidential Candidate Banner Posting... 20 Staff Deployed for Rapid Banner Maintenance the Day After Election... Jongno-gu Recycles Used Banners into Shopping Bags... Gangdong-gu Provides 300,000 KRW per Middle/High School Entrant, 200,000 KRW per Elementary Entrant... '2021 Gangseo-gu Social Survey' Reports Magok District Development Impact Score of 7.26 out of 10 on Gangseo-gu's Progress

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) will conduct a special crackdown on illegal banners from the 15th, when the official campaign for the 20th presidential election began, until the election day on the 9th of next month.

This is to prevent the proliferation of party and commercial banners during the presidential election campaign period, taking advantage of the posting of candidate banners, based on past cases.

The district will remove illegal banners not only on weekdays but also on weekends to prevent unauthorized posting during vulnerable times. At the same time, flyers, posters, stickers, etc. will also be collected.

Even if it is a presidential candidate banner, if complaints arise due to reasons such as covering store signs, the election commission will be notified to relocate the banner, actively responding to minimize inconvenience to citizens.

The day after the presidential election, 20 staff members will be organized into four teams to quickly manage all election banners installed in the area.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin said, “We will continue to strive to create a clean Seodaemun-gu without illegal banners even during the election campaign period for the safety of citizens and the city’s aesthetics.”

Jongno-gu expects an increase in the amount of waste banners due to this year’s presidential and local elections and plans to promote a ‘Waste Banner Upcycling’ project to lead the realization of a resource-circulating city.

‘Upcycling’ means transforming recycled materials into products with enhanced value and usability.

The project period is set from the 21st of this month to June 30th, with intensive collection periods from March 7th to 11th and May 30th to June 3rd, before and after the elections.

Last year, about 4,700 waste banners were generated in the area, most of which were incinerated. Waste wood materials were sorted and processed into sawdust, and about 4,000 sacks were recycled.

Accordingly, Jongno-gu plans to select clean and uncontaminated banners that were posted illegally or collected after the election this year to make shopping bags.

The shopping bags made from waste banners will be used as rewards in the recycling collection incentive program, and collection sacks will be distributed for recyclable waste separation in apartment complexes and other places.

In addition, Jongno-gu has been promoting various projects for resource saving and environmental protection. A representative example is the ‘Coffee Grounds Recycling Project’ introduced for the first time last year. Previously, coffee grounds were mixed with household waste and disposed of by landfill or incineration. This project separately collects coffee grounds and supports their reuse as eco-friendly fertilizer in farms. Participation applications are currently being accepted through the district office website.

Before the mandatory implementation of separate collection of transparent PET bottles, the district held a PET bottle collection event to encourage participation. It also distributes home dehydrators for food waste to reduce annual disposal costs amounting to tens of billions of won.

Furthermore, the district runs a ‘Paper Pack and Waste Battery Collection Reward Program’ where residents can exchange 30 waste batteries (1kg) for a new set of batteries (2 pieces) and 1kg of paper packs for one roll of toilet paper at local community centers, receiving steady positive responses from residents.

An official from the district said, “In line with this year’s presidential and local elections, we plan to propose and implement ideas for ‘resource upcycling’ using waste banners. We also operate a paper pack and waste battery separate collection reward program that anyone can easily participate in at home, so we ask for your interest and participation.”

Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hoon) will expand the support for new student enrollment preparation funds from middle and high schools to include elementary school freshmen for the 2022 academic year.

In 2018, Gangdong-gu was the first in Seoul to launch a school uniform purchase support project for middle and high school students to alleviate parents’ financial burdens and strengthen universal educational welfare. This project became a catalyst for the enrollment preparation fund support project, which expanded last year to cover all middle and high school students in Seoul.

From this year, support will be extended to elementary school freshmen as well. The total number of beneficiaries in Gangdong-gu is about 11,200, including 4,226 elementary students and 7,064 middle and high school students. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Seoul City, and the district share the funding, providing 300,000 KRW per middle and high school student and 200,000 KRW per elementary school student.

Eligible applicants are students entering elementary, middle, or high schools within the district or students registered as residents of Gangdong-gu as of March 2nd who are entering schools outside Seoul.

Applications can be made at the school the student is entering, and those entering schools outside the district can apply through the district website. The support amount will be provided as mobile points (Zero Pay).

The preparation funds can be used freely for clothing including school uniforms and purchasing recommended school books.

Mayor Lee Jung-hoon said, “We have ensured that not only students entering schools located within the district but also Gangdong-gu students entering schools outside Seoul can receive enrollment preparation funds. We will continue to do our best to realize education policies without blind spots.”

Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced the results of the ‘2021 Gangseo-gu Social Survey,’ which provides a comprehensive view of residents’ quality of life and social changes.

The ‘Gangseo-gu Social Survey’ investigates various aspects of residents’ lives, including quality of life, interests, and policy demands. The district has conducted this survey every four years since the first one in 2013.

The purpose is to understand residents’ interests and administrative needs based on the survey results and use them as basic data for policy formulation and project implementation tailored to residents’ characteristics and demands.

This survey was conducted over a month from September 8 to October 6 last year, targeting 4,280 household members aged 15 or older from 2,000 households in the area. Professional surveyors conducted face-to-face interviews covering 77 items across 12 fields closely related to residents’ lives, including health, welfare, education, housing, safety, and culture.

Notably, the survey reflected changes in residents’ quality of life due to COVID-19 and the impact of the Magok district development on residents’ lives over the past four years.

Survey results were converted to a 10-point scale, with ‘very satisfied (positive)’ or ‘strongly agree’ scored as 10 points, and ‘very dissatisfied (negative)’ or ‘strongly disagree’ as 0 points. Scores from 0 to 1.43 were classified as very negative, up to 2.86 as negative, up to 4.29 as somewhat negative, up to 5.71 as neutral, up to 7.14 as somewhat positive, up to 8.57 as positive, and up to 10 as very positive.

Regarding changes due to COVID-19, social issues such as isolation from social distancing and economic issues like income reduction and contactless consumption accounted for the largest proportions.

Among respondents, 6 out of 10 reported increased use of computers and smart devices, and 7 out of 10 reported decreased travel, indicating significant impacts on residents’ leisure activities.

The overall score for the impact of the Magok district development on Gangseo-gu’s progress was 7.26 out of 10, showing a positive view. Many respondents noted that local economic revitalization was due to tourist attractions like the Seoul Botanic Park and new job creation from companies moving into the industrial complex.

Additionally, the overall urban safety score increased by 0.43 points from the 2017 survey to 6.84 points, indicating residents feel somewhat positive. Residents expressed the greatest desire for expanding security CCTV and lighting for urban safety.

The overall satisfaction with district administration scored 7.03 points, an increase of 0.84 points from the previous survey. Residents identified safety and environmental city (55.3%) and future economic city (53.1%) as priority areas for the district’s focus.

The district produced the ‘2021 Gangseo-gu Social Survey’ report in e-book format and posted it on the district website for public access. The report can be found at ‘Gangseo-gu website - Administrative Information - Statistical Information - Statistical Survey Reports.’

An official said, “We expect this survey to be very helpful in understanding residents’ social interests and administrative demands. We will carefully analyze the data to ensure residents’ valuable opinions are reflected in administrative policy directions and various project implementations.”

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