Seoul City to Announce 'Public Care Strengthening Measures'... Launch of 'Public Care Committee'

'1st Seoul Public Care Committee' Held to Strengthen Public Care
Operates Weekly Until July 19... Participation of Mayor Oh Se-hoon and Experts
Focused Discussion on Long-term Care Services... 'Strengthening Plan' to Be Announced in August

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will announce the 'Seoul Public Care Enhancement Plan,' which highlights Seoul's unique characteristics based on sustainability, in August. The plan aims to extensively reorganize the public care system responsible for addressing care blind spots, focusing on redefining care functions centered on 'flexible services.'

To this end, Seoul announced that on the afternoon of the 7th, it will hold the '1st Seoul Public Care Committee' meeting at the main conference room of City Hall with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, social service academia, and field experts.

Earlier, last month, Seoul approved the dissolution of the Seoul Social Service Institute (hereinafter referred to as Sasa-won), a Seoul-affiliated organization responsible for public care. Sasa-won was a city-funded institution providing care services such as long-term care, support for activities of persons with disabilities, and childcare, but it had faced criticism for lax management and failure to fulfill its public functions. However, Seoul has announced that even after Sasa-won's dissolution, the necessary public care functions will be maintained and strengthened through the formation and operation of the 'Seoul Public Care Enhancement Committee.'

The Public Care Enhancement Committee consists of 15 members from academia, public institutions, field experts, Seoul Metropolitan Government, Seoul Metropolitan Council, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Professor Seok Jae-eun of Hallym University’s Department of Social Welfare, who serves as co-head of the government’s 'Medical, Nursing, and Care Policy Planning Group,' a policy operation committee member of the Low Fertility and Aging Society Commission, and president of the Korean Social Welfare Association, has been appointed as the committee chairperson.

Starting with this first meeting, the committee will operate once a week until July 19. The meeting will be attended by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon and 14 committee members, and will involve in-depth discussions ranging from the committee’s operational plans, schedules, and directions to keynote presentations and member debates.

The first presenter at the meeting, Ko Gwang-hyun, Director of Seoul’s Welfare Policy Division, will present on the background of the committee’s launch, the scope of discussions, and the topics to be addressed in each session. Key issues to be discussed in the future include the scope of care blind spots that should be actively targeted, plans to expand services and strengthen support to eliminate care blind spots, public care delivery system strategies, and development plans to improve the quality of private care services.

Following this, Lim Hye-sung, Director of the Social Service Policy Division at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will present on 'Key Tasks and Cooperation Requests for Metropolitan and Provincial Social Service Institutes,' covering tasks to strengthen the social service promotion functions of social service institutes under the basic social service plan, and the responsibilities under the 'Act on Support for Social Services and Establishment and Operation of Social Service Institutes' following Sasa-won’s dissolution. Researcher Yoon Min-seok of the Seoul Institute will also analyze the current status and limitations of public care direct service support policies and present on redefining and improving the role of Seoul-type public care.

The Public Care Committee plans to focus discussions on five areas over 7 to 8 meetings: long-term care services, support for activities of persons with disabilities, mental health, private sector development and emergency care, and treatment improvement. In particular, based on the discussion results, the committee intends to prepare a redefinition plan that provides flexible services according to users’ needs and situations regardless of severity, profitability, vulnerable times, or vulnerable spaces, and announce the 'Seoul Public Care Enhancement Plan.'

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon emphasized, "Now is the time to prepare concrete measures to enhance the quality and public nature of social services." He added, "I ask the committee to make candid policy proposals so that Seoul’s public care policies can be more firmly realized." He also stated that Seoul will create a more meticulous and strengthened care system so that any citizen in need of care can receive sufficient care services whenever they want.

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