Yoon: "Support Unregistered Senior Centers with Heating and Rice Costs at Registered Senior Centers Level" (Comprehensive)

President Yoon Visits Unregistered Senior Center in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul
Minister of Health and Welfare: "Will Revise Laws to Enable Local Governments to Assist"

President Yoon Suk-yeol promised on the 7th, two days before the Lunar New Year holiday, "I did not realize there were so many unregistered senior centers that do not receive government support. We will provide support for heating costs at the same level as registered senior centers."

On the morning of the same day, President Yoon visited an unregistered senior center in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, to greet the elderly for the New Year and made these remarks.

The presidential office explained that this visit was made ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday for the president to visit the field of public livelihood, listen to the voices of the elderly, and check the usage status of unregistered senior centers. The senior center President Yoon visited that day is about 7.6 pyeong (25.12㎡), has no restroom inside, and is unregistered because the number of elderly users falls short of the standard (20 people).

President Yoon said, "In large apartment complexes, it is possible to meet the registration standards when creating senior centers, but there are many places like this one where it is difficult to meet the standards," according to Kim Soo-kyung, spokesperson for the presidential office. "We will comprehensively inspect the actual conditions of unregistered senior centers."

He continued, "The registration standards were set to create a certain level of space so that the elderly can live healthily and comfortably, but we cannot just leave those in unregistered senior centers, which realistically cannot meet the standards, to live uncomfortably," adding, "We will carefully review the system and first take care of heating costs so that it is not cold in winter."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon also said, "If there are any inconveniences besides the senior center issues, please tell the Minister of Health and Welfare here," to which the elderly responded, "We hope to receive support fairly with registered senior centers. Rather than a one-time, temporary support, please make it continuous and sustainable."

Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong replied, "We will provide support as fairly as possible within the budget and revise the legislation so that local governments can also provide support, allowing the elderly to enjoy their leisure time."

Although unregistered senior centers effectively perform the functions of senior centers, they do not meet some criteria such as facility requirements and user capacity, and therefore do not receive support for heating and cooling costs, grain costs, and operating expenses. According to a full survey by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, there are about 1,600 unregistered senior centers nationwide, with about 23,000 elderly users.

President Yoon also delivered Lunar New Year holiday gifts to the elderly, consisting of traditional liquors for ancestral rites, citron syrup, pine nuts, and beef jerky.

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