Gangbuk-gu Launches 4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival Committee... Gangseo-gu Establishes Basic Human Rights Plan

[Seoul District News] Gangbuk-gu Holds 4·19 Revolution National Culture Festival Committee Launch Ceremony on 16th, Resolves Successful Event; 10th Anniversary with Various Programs Including KBS Open Concert... Jungnang-gu Signs MOU with Sinnaneun Johap to Discover and Foster Prospective Social Entrepreneurs... Seoul Gangseo-gu Establishes Human Rights Administration Framework for 2022-2026 with 5 Policy Goals and 39 Detailed Projects to Promote Residents' Human Rights

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangbuk-gu (Mayor Park Kyum-soo) held the launch ceremony of the ‘4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival Committee’ on the 16th at the district office’s planning situation room.

The launch ceremony was attended by Park Kyum-soo, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, Park Jong-gu, Chairman of the 4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival Committee, Lee Yong-gyun, Chairman of the Gangbuk-gu Council, Lee Chang-seop, Director of the 4·19 Democratic Cemetery, and 18 others.

The event, conducted in accordance with the government’s COVID-19 quarantine guidelines, began with the reading of the declaration by Park Jong-gu, Chairman of the 4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival Committee. After reporting and gathering opinions on this year’s programs, it concluded with a visit to the National 4·19 Democratic Cemetery’s Memorial Tower for a tribute.

The ‘4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival’ marks its 10th anniversary this year. Since the festival’s inception in 2013, the program has been enhanced and developed, with two new programs added for the 10th anniversary.

First, on April 2, a pre-recording of the ‘KBS Open Concert’ will take place at the National 4·19 Democratic Cemetery. Approximately 2,000 citizens can participate in the pre-recording, and the broadcast is scheduled for April 17. Another program, ‘4·19 Democracy Road,’ will be held as a 1-night, 2-day event at the Uidong Family Camping Site, targeting 108 general citizens from April 9 to April 10.

On the first day, family-oriented experiential programs will be operated to deepen understanding of the 4·19 Revolution. On the second day, programs utilizing nearby facilities such as the mountain exhibition experience center and artificial rock climbing wall at the Uidong Family Camping Site are planned.

This year, to spread the spirit of the 4·19 Revolution to all citizens and generations, the festival will hold ▲National Student Drawing and Writing Contest ▲National Student English Speech Contest ▲National Creative Pansori Competition ▲National University Student Debate Contest. The festival’s highlight, the ‘Rak (樂) Music Festival,’ and the ‘International Academic Conference’ to promote the 4·19 Revolution globally will also be operated.

The district announced that the festival will proceed in stages according to the government’s social distancing guidelines in April. At stage 1, the event will be held offline while adhering to quarantine rules. At stage 2, fences will be installed around the entire venue to designate a quarantine zone, self-diagnosis kits will be distributed to participants, and the festival will proceed after rapid antigen testing. At stage 3, considered the most severe phase of COVID-19, the event will be held without an audience and non-face-to-face, with expanded online participation programs.

Park Jong-gu, Chairman of the 4·19 Revolution National Cultural Festival Committee, said, “The 4·19 Revolution is a democracy movement comparable to the world’s top three revolutions,” adding, “On the 10th anniversary, we will widely promote the 4·19 Revolution to the public based on the experience and know-how accumulated so far.”

Park Kyum-soo, Mayor of Gangbuk-gu, said, “The reason South Korea has developed from a Third World country to one of the world’s top 10 economies is thanks to democracy,” and added, “I hope many people participate in this festival that spreads the 4·19 spirit, the beginning and foundation of democracy, to all citizens and globally.”

Gangseo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Noh Hyun-song) announced that it has established the ‘Gangseo-gu Basic Plan for Human Rights Guarantee and Promotion,’ which will serve as the foundation for human rights administration over the next five years until 2026.

The plan aims to set regionally tailored human rights policies based on research results such as human rights surveys and to establish an institutional foundation for settling human rights administration.

Since the district is home to many residents from diverse groups such as people with disabilities, multicultural families, and North Korean defectors, the demand for human rights is also diverse.

Accordingly, the district gathered opinions from various sectors through resident surveys and expert consultations to prepare a basic human rights plan that all members of the community can empathize with and be satisfied by, rather than policies targeting specific groups.

The ‘Gangseo-gu Basic Plan for Human Rights Guarantee and Promotion’ is composed of five major policy goals under the vision of ‘Gangseo, a human rights autonomous district where everyone empathizes and is respected’: ▲Creating a human rights-friendly environment ▲Establishing human rights governance ▲Establishing a human rights system by life cycle ▲Establishing a human rights system for socially vulnerable groups ▲Establishing an internal human rights guarantee system.

Additionally, 39 detailed projects were selected to concretely realize the vision and policy goals, presenting practical measures to protect socially vulnerable groups and promote residents’ human rights.

First, aiming to create a human rights-friendly environment, the district plans to strengthen human rights education and guarantee human rights in daily life. Human rights education will be expanded for local residents, public institutions, and social welfare facility workers, and living human rights will be reinforced through establishing disaster preparedness systems.

Also, aiming to establish human rights governance, a cooperative system encompassing both public and private sectors will be prepared. The district plans to settle a human rights culture created together with residents through the formation of the Gangseo-gu Human Rights Committee and the establishment of a human rights support system.

To establish a human rights system by life cycle, age-appropriate human rights policies will be promoted for infants, children and adolescents, youth and adults, and the elderly. Customized projects suitable for each life cycle, such as expanding national and public childcare facilities, supporting youth employment, and visiting health care, will be carried out.

Aiming to establish a human rights system for socially vulnerable groups, the district will actively work to eliminate human rights blind spots. Various projects to strengthen human rights protection for socially vulnerable groups will be promoted, including voucher programs supporting better futures for people with disabilities, late-night return support, women’s protection safety net projects such as illegal filming crackdowns, and multicultural awareness improvement and settlement support.

Along with this, aiming to establish an internal human rights guarantee system, policies to protect the human rights of public officials will be prepared. The safety and human rights of civil servants handling complaints on-site will be protected, and a stable working environment will be created to provide higher quality civil complaint administrative services to residents.

The district plans to continuously monitor and evaluate the implementation results while establishing annual implementation plans starting with this basic plan, further strengthening the execution power of human rights policies.

Mayor Noh Hyun-song said, “Based on the Basic Plan for Human Rights Guarantee and Promotion, we will reflect on the value of human rights throughout district administration and spread a culture of respect for human rights,” adding, “We will do our best to make Gangseo a human rights autonomous district where all residents empathize and are respected.”

Ryugyeonggi Jungnang-gu Mayor (right) and Lee Seon-woo, Chairman

Jungnang-gu (Mayor Ryu Kyung-gi) signed a business agreement on the 15th with the Korea Microcredit Exciting Cooperative (hereinafter Exciting Cooperative), a social enterprise and cooperative integrated support organization in the Seoul area, to revitalize the social economy ecosystem.

Through this business agreement, the district plans to discover and nurture promising prospective social entrepreneurs to activate the local social economy ecosystem.

Going forward, the district will operate a social entrepreneur nurturing project using the incubating space within the local social economy support center. The district will provide startup incubating space within the center, and Exciting Cooperative will operate various programs for startup teams. Through education, mentoring, consulting, and workshops, prospective social entrepreneurs will be supported to grow stably.

Ryu Kyung-gi, Mayor of Jungnang-gu, said, “Through close cooperation based on this business agreement, we will actively discover and nurture promising prospective social entrepreneurs in the region,” adding, “We will do our best to contribute to job creation and local economic development through continuous revitalization of the social economy ecosystem.”

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