[Interview] Moon Seok-jin, Seodaemun District Mayor, "Accelerating the Establishment of a Welfare Safety Net for Youth Family Caregivers"

Cooperating with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Conducting Pilot Projects, Providing Customized Support Linked to Welfare Systems... Maintaining a Welfare-Centered District Administration Policy for 12 Years

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] “We will establish a one-stop care support system that proactively identifies ‘Young Carers’?those who take full responsibility for family care and nursing but have not received help from existing welfare systems?through close cooperation among public sectors, local communities, and frontline schools, and connect them with essential welfare resources.”

In an interview with this publication, Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, cited ‘welfare’ as the key project for the last quarter of the 7th local government term.

Mayor Moon has regarded ‘welfare’ as a major theme of district administration for 12 years from the 5th to the 7th local government terms, based on his belief that “welfare links a society’s economic growth to social integration.”

He was the first in the nation to implement the ‘Dong Welfare Hub Project,’ which became the foundation for Seoul’s Chattogether Project and the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Eup/Myeon/Dong Welfare Hub Project. He has also continuously promoted the ‘100 Families Embrace Project,’ which identifies private welfare resources and connects them one-on-one to residents in need, far exceeding the initial goal to reach 1,004 families.

Continuing this approach, last year the district became the first local government nationwide to carry out a three-stage project on Young Carers?legal definition, status survey, and support plan development for young people and adolescents providing family care.

Mayor Moon emphasized, “As single-parent families increase and low birth rates and aging intensify, the number of young people burdened with parental care will continue to rise. Until now, Young Carers have been regarded as temporary objects of interest and charity under the label of child heads of households, but going forward, the state and local governments must strengthen systems to take responsibility for their family care.”

Recently, the district was recognized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare as a leading local government for the Young Carer project. Together, they operate a policy consultative body, conduct surveys and pilot projects, and concretize support models. Both institutions identify ‘family care youth’ in Seodaemun-gu and provide customized support linked to existing welfare systems.

Additionally, the district connects village lawyers to support administrative and legal tasks for ‘family care youth’ and operates care support home-visit services for housekeeping and nursing, as well as customized elderly care services.

Mayor Moon Seok-jin stated, “The sacrifices of Young Carers can lead to social problems and inequality beyond individual burdens. We will closely cooperate with the Ministry of Health and Welfare and actively develop and implement various policies within the district to ensure that young people do not give up their futures to care for their families.”

The district is building a welfare safety net for Young Carers through related ordinance enactment, comprehensive welfare counseling based on the ‘Health and Welfare Integrated Service Manual,’ emergency support for medical and living expenses, emotional stability support to alleviate isolation, and ‘discharge patient linkage’ in cooperation with local hospitals.

Furthermore, it plans to develop a ‘Young Carer Customized Welfare System’ by forming a group of child and adolescent experts to provide career counseling, vocational education, job linkage, and mental health support.

Seodaemun-gu is also the first autonomous district in Seoul to support ‘Social First Step Allowance’ and housing rent for local care-leaving children (young people preparing for independence) who must become independent at age 18 from child care facilities and group homes, promoting the so-called ‘Making My Neighborhood My Room’ project.

Alongside this, when the unprecedented online school opening occurred due to COVID-19, the district was the first nationwide to provide laptops and tablet PCs to students eligible for educational welfare to prevent the digital divide from becoming an educational gap.

To further bridge the digital divide, it also dispatched ‘Digital Tutors’ to elementary, middle, and high schools for the first time nationwide, and this year plans to expand the project to senior centers.

One of the proud achievements of Mayor Moon’s administration is the ‘Ansang Jarak-gil Trail’ development, which resulted from efforts to improve welfare and mobility rights for vulnerable groups such as the disabled and elderly.

Regarding this, Mayor Moon said, “Like the Young Carer project, policies that do not improve residents’ welfare should not be rationalized, nor should welfare and other policies be treated separately. This has been a consistent philosophy of our district administration.” With about three months left in his term, Mayor Moon concluded the interview by saying, “If we can foster sensitivity that regards social welfare issues as personal matters and elicit empathy from those around us, we will gain the strength to develop and implement related policies and see results. I hope our public officials always maintain this attitude.”

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