Relocation of Statue of Chungjeonggong Min Yeonghwan to Chungjeong-ro

[Seoul District News] Seodaemun-gu to Complete Construction by End of July After Groundbreaking Ceremony on 31st · Tree and Infrastructure Maintenance Around Relocated Statue · Night Lighting Installation · Memorial Sculpture Engraved with Min Young-hwan’s Will 'To 20 Million People of the Korean Empire'... Nowon-gu Hosts 2022 Hope Ondol Warm Winter Thanks Day Event... Gwangjin-gu Operates ‘Video Interview Experience Center’ with AI and VR Mock Interviews... Eunpyeong-gu Awarded Excellent for 3 Consecutive Years in Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation by Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 30th that the statue of the patriotic martyr Chungjeonggong Min Yeong-hwan (height 5m, circumference 3.3m), located at the Ujeong Post Office Citizen Square (55 Ujeongguk-ro, Jongno-gu), will be relocated to the Chungjeong-ro Intersection traffic island (414 Chungjeong-ro 3-ga, Seodaemun-gu).

Min Yeong-hwan (1861?1905) was a figure who resisted Japanese imperialism by leaving a will addressed to the people and foreign envoys after failing to annul the Eulsa Treaty signed in 1905, and then committing suicide.

Chungjeong-ro is an approximately 800m long, 8-lane road from Chungjeong-ro Intersection to Seodaemun Station Intersection, named in 1946 after Min Yeong-hwan’s posthumous title, Chungjeong (忠正).

The district plans to newly place a sculpture engraved with Min Yeong-hwan’s will, “A Final Message to the 20 Million Fellow Citizens of the Korean Empire,” at the base of the relocated statue.

Additionally, the surrounding space of the statue (414㎡) will be landscaped with trees and infrastructure, and night lighting facilities will be installed to create a place where citizens can better learn about Min Yeong-hwan.

The district will hold a groundbreaking ceremony at the site at 3:30 p.m. on the 31st and plans to complete the construction by the end of July this year. Furthermore, citizen participation activities will be planned to maintain the site after installation.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, “It is even more meaningful that the statue of Chungjeonggong has been moved to Chungjeong-ro, from which its name originates,” and added, “I hope the relocated site will become a space that reminds citizens of Min Yeong-hwan’s legacy and firmly establishes itself among the people.”

Nowon-gu (Mayor Oh Seung-rok) held the '2022 Hope Ondol Warm Winter Thanks Day' event at 5 p.m. on the 30th in the large auditorium on the 2nd floor of Nowon-gu Office.

Thanks Day was organized to report the results of the fundraising campaign and express gratitude to donors who participated in neighbor-helping donations from November last year to February this year, a period of three months.

The event was attended by Mayor Oh Seung-rok, district council members, Kim Geun, Chairman of the Nowon Education Welfare Foundation, Kim Jin-gon, Secretary General of the Seoul Social Welfare Community Chest, and 41 representatives of donors who participated in the fundraising.

The event proceeded with an opening declaration, congratulatory speeches, performance reports, awards for outstanding donors, and group photo sessions. It concluded with a puzzle performance featuring the phrase “You who practice sharing are heroes of Nowon,” reinforcing the spirit of sharing.

The district raised 3.14 billion KRW, exceeding the initial target of 2.8 billion KRW by 112% through the 2022 fundraising campaign. A total of 1,799 donations were received from residents, organizations, and companies across various sectors.

The collected funds will be used for the livelihood, medical care, housing, education, and emergency relief expenses of low-income residents earning less than 120% of the median income, including families with unstable livelihoods, neighbors in urgent need of medical treatment, and low-income youth requiring tuition support.

Oh Seung-rok, Mayor of Nowon-gu, said, “I thank all donors who participated despite difficult times,” and added, “We will ensure that your neighborly love and spirit of sharing shine by using the funds where they are most needed.”

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) is operating a ‘Video Interview Experience Center’ for job seekers in Gwangjin-gu.

The ‘Video Interview Experience Center’ is a space where job seekers can directly experience mock interview programs based on AI and VR, providing opportunities to practice and experience various interview environments in advance.

Gwangjin-gu established the ‘Video Interview Experience Center’ to strengthen employment support by offering a new program to job seekers struggling with interviews due to changes in the employment environment caused by COVID-19.

At the ‘Video Interview Experience Center,’ the ‘AI Mock Interview’ uses big data-based AI to analyze and evaluate the interviewee’s attitude, job competency, and suitability, providing feedback accordingly. The ‘VR Mock Interview’ is a practical interview simulation service where participants can practice interviews in a realistic environment using VR devices.

Additionally, Gwangjin-gu supports non-face-to-face interview spaces and meeting rooms for job seekers and companies that lack video interview facilities or equipment.

Located in the basement level 1 of the Gwangjin Economic Hub Center Do-yak-gwan, the ‘Video Interview Experience Center’ is free to use for any Gwangjin-gu resident registered as a job seeker at the Gwangjin Job Center. Operating hours are weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and reservations must be made online through the ‘Gwangjin Video Interview’ Google form.

For inquiries, contact the Job Policy Division.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “The Video Interview Experience Center will be a great help to job seekers struggling to prepare for interviews due to COVID-19,” and added, “We will continue to strive to develop various policies to strengthen employment support for job seekers.”

Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) announced on the 30th that it received a grade 2 in the ‘2021 Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation’ conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, marking three consecutive years of excellent evaluations.

The district has achieved the remarkable feat of being named an excellent institution for three consecutive years since 2019, receiving high ratings of grades 1 to 2.

The Anti-Corruption Policy Evaluation, hosted by the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, is a system that quantitatively and qualitatively assesses the anti-corruption efforts and achievements of public institutions over one year. From this year, it has been reorganized into a ‘Comprehensive Integrity’ evaluation system that assesses public institutions’ integrity levels based on integrity perception and anti-corruption efforts.

This evaluation was conducted on public institutions including 42 basic local governments with populations over 400,000. Through a comprehensive assessment of five areas?anti-corruption plan establishment, creation of an integrity ecosystem, securing effectiveness of corruption control, achievements and dissemination of integrity administration and management, and operation of anti-corruption systems?the voluntary efforts of public institutions to prevent corruption were rated on a scale from 1 to 5.

In this evaluation, Eunpyeong-gu was recognized for its excellent policy ripple effect due to the establishment of concrete and feasible integrity policy plans and the continuous expression of integrity commitment by the head of the institution.

Since last year, the district has implemented various integrity policies such as conducting special audits to improve internal integrity vulnerabilities, monitoring and promoting the eradication of power abuse in the public sector. Letters from the mayor were sent to all employees, and high-ranking officials received integrity education, with senior officials leading by example to foster consensus among all staff.

This year, the district continued its commitment to integrity by holding a ‘Public Official Integrity Practice Pledge Ceremony’ for 2022. It plans to strengthen integrity activities to establish a culture of integrity in public service through integrity巡回?明? (rotating briefings) in all departments and integrity strategy meetings for executives.

A district official stated, “Thanks to the efforts of employees for a clean administration and the encouragement of residents, Eunpyeong-gu was selected as an excellent institution for three consecutive years in the anti-corruption policy evaluation,” and added, “We will take the lead in promoting integrity and anti-corruption policies so that we can make a further leap forward as ‘Integrity Eunpyeong’ in the upcoming public institution integrity level evaluation scheduled for this year.”

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