Guro-gu, Organizational Restructuring Including Establishment of Urban Development and Public Relations Officer Under Deputy Mayor Direct Supervision

[Seoul Autonomous District News] Guro-gu to Implement Organizational Restructuring Including New Redevelopment and Reconstruction Team from January 1 ... Dongdaemun-gu to Provide 10 Billion Won in 2023 Education Expense Subsidies ... Gwangjin-gu to Hold First 'Gwangjin-gu Public Conflict Deliberation Committee' of the 8th Elected Term on the 20th ... Gangseo-gu to Identify Welfare System Improvements for Disabled Convenience and Vulnerable Health Promotion, Delivering Creative Ideas for Happy Coexistence with Socially Disadvantaged to Central Government

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] The organizational structure of Guro-gu will undergo a major reorganization.

Guro-gu (Mayor Moon Heon-il) announced that it will implement the first organizational restructuring of the 8th elected administration on January 1 next year to realize the vision of "Warm Companionship, Changing Guro."

A district official explained the reorganization policy, saying, "This organizational restructuring prioritizes the successful implementation of the 8th elected administration's pledged and key projects. We referred to the organizational structures of Seoul City and other autonomous districts to create a cohesive organizational framework, and in line with government policies, we strived to maintain a small and efficient organization without increasing the number of personnel."

Looking specifically at the reorganization plan, the district first changed the redevelopment and reconstruction promotion system to secure driving force for realizing "Warm Companionship, Changing Guro."

Accordingly, a new "Urban Development Division" was established to be in charge of redevelopment and balanced urban development, reorganizing related departments into the Redevelopment Policy Team, Redevelopment Team, Regional Development Team, and Urban Environment Improvement Team. A private consensus body, the "Redevelopment and Reconstruction Project Support Group," was newly established to expedite residential maintenance projects.

To unify the work delivery system following Seoul City's organizational restructuring, a "Public Relations Officer" was newly established directly under the Deputy Mayor, and within this office, a New Media Team was created to handle communication through SNS and other new media. The Audit Office, currently directly under the Deputy Mayor, was renamed the "Audit Officer," and the district government research team and external policy officer were downsized and reorganized into two officers.

In response to the era's changes with diverse family forms, the welfare departments were subdivided, and a new "Life Security Division" was created. Departments were newly established or reorganized into the Senior Welfare Division, Disability Welfare Division, and Child and Youth Division according to the respective beneficiary groups, and the Education Support Division was transferred to the Administrative Management Bureau.

Additionally, to strengthen safety management in accordance with the Serious Accident Punishment Act, the "Safety and Transportation Bureau" was placed at the forefront, and a River Management Team was newly established to focus on managing river facilities and flood damage.

The existing Smart City Division, Public Relations and Computer Division, and Urban Regeneration Division, which had low interdepartmental relevance, were renamed the "Smart Environment Bureau," consisting of five departments: Smart City Division, Street Landscape Division, Cleaning Administration Division, Environment Division, and Parks and Greenery Division.

A Guro-gu official said, "We will do our best to ensure that residents can feel tangible changes in their daily lives through this organizational restructuring."

Huibong High School Robot Science Education

Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Lee Pil-hyung) will provide next year's education expense subsidies at the highest level among Seoul's autonomous districts. The district confirmed 10 billion KRW for next year's education expense subsidies, an increase of 2 billion KRW from this year.

To actively respond to the rapidly changing educational environment, the district allocated 10 billion KRW in education expense subsidies to support ▲school-tailored programs for strengthening academic achievement and enhancing public education ▲creative future science education to secure future talents ▲low-carbon green growth education ▲character education for a society of coexistence ▲counseling programs for students requiring psychological treatment, which are increasing in schools.

Additionally, new support will be provided for safety education to prevent various unexpected accidents and protect precious lives.

The detailed support for kindergartens, elementary, middle, and high schools will be decided through the Dongdaemun-gu Education Expense Subsidy Deliberation Committee next year.

The district also allocated a budget of 5.729 billion KRW to create an educational environment where students can learn and grow together without discrimination, including 5.027 billion KRW for eco-friendly school meals, 397 million KRW for entrance preparation funds for elementary and middle school students, and 350 million KRW for free education for all high school grades.

Lee Pil-hyung, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, "Opportunities for students to unleash their imagination and develop their talents should never be restricted under any circumstances. Despite the low financial independence, we will continue to do our best to provide educational support that students and schools desire."

Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Kyung-ho) held the first 'Public Conflict Deliberation Committee' of the 8th elected administration on the 20th at the district office's planning situation room.

The Public Conflict Deliberation Committee (hereafter, Deliberation Committee) is a communication channel to prevent and manage various conflicts that may arise during the process of addressing local issues or policy implementation.

Experts and residents from various fields such as urban construction, welfare, and safety environment gather to share in-depth opinions and seek solutions. Currently, 34 members belong to the committee, and 20 attended the meeting, adding prestige to the event.

The agenda discussed at the first Deliberation Committee of the 8th elected administration was "Measures to Remove Entry Barriers for New Members of Cultural and Sports Facilities." When using cultural and sports facilities in the district, existing members are given priority recruitment, and popular classes close early, causing many residents to miss registration opportunities and express regret.

Accordingly, the district held the first meeting to amicably resolve complaints without conflicts between existing and new members.

After hearing the proposal from the Gwangjin-gu Facilities Management Corporation, committee members continued thoughtful and profound discussions to find a wise consensus that would not provoke conflicts among stakeholders.

The matters discussed at this meeting will be carefully reviewed again and reflected in next year's recruitment of cultural and sports facility members.

Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said, "The most important thing in conflict resolution is communication. The administration will not act unilaterally but will always communicate closely and listen attentively to the voices of residents."

The Gwangjin-gu Deliberation Committee was launched in 2019 as the first among Seoul's 25 autonomous districts and has amicably resolved local issues that caused conflicts, such as the opening of the Yangjin Elementary School school route in 2020 and the administrative boundary change between Hwayang-dong and Guui-dong in 2021.

In November, it also received the Minister of the Interior and Safety Award at the '2022 Local Government Deliberation-Based Resident Participation and Cooperation/Dispute Resolution Best Practice Competition.'

The district plans to continue realizing a happy Gwangjin through constant communication with residents.

Creative ideas from Gangseo-gu for happy companionship with socially vulnerable groups have been delivered to central government ministries.

Seoul Gangseo-gu (Mayor Kim Tae-woo) announced that it has submitted 21 proposals for institutional improvements in the social welfare sector to central ministries such as the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport.

Previously, from September 26 to October 7, the district conducted a "Social Welfare Sector Institutional Improvement Proposal Contest" to enhance satisfaction with welfare services through ▲improvement of unreasonable guidelines and systems ▲system improvements ▲budget savings ▲creative project proposals.

The contest received a total of 54 proposals from residents interested in social welfare, social welfare workers, and public officials.

After review by the responsible department's staff and the proposal evaluation committee, 21 proposals were selected as excellent.

The selected proposals include practical improvements needed in the welfare field, such as expanding banks linked to issuing disability registration cards integrated with prepaid cards for disabled persons with mobility difficulties, awarding additional points for rental housing applications when minor grandchildren in grandparent-headed families are present, and allowing recipients of government rice to choose between regular rice, mixed grains, or brown rice.

The district explained that it added the current status, problems, improvement plans, and opinions from the responsible departments to the 21 excellent proposals and delivered them to central ministries and Seoul City.

Mayor Kim Tae-woo said, "We conducted this contest to discover areas needing improvement in welfare work on the ground, respond quickly to the changing welfare environment, and provide high-quality welfare services. We will continue to discover policies that are practically helpful on the ground and create a Gangseo-gu that walks together with socially vulnerable groups."

◆Gangseo-gu ▲Administrative Support Division Gwak Jin-young ▲Autonomous Administration Division Yeo Han-gu ▲Tax Management Division Ma Jun-oh ▲Welfare Policy Division Gwak Hyun-gyu-

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