From 'Seoul Run' to 'National Run'... Oh Se-hoon: "I will go anywhere you want" (Comprehensive)

Expansion to Gimpo Following Chungbuk and Pyeongchang
30,000 Seoul Students Participated Over the Past 3 Years
Oh Sehoon: "Expanding Toward a National Run"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon expressed his ambition to expand 'Seoul Run,' a representative educational welfare project, into a 'National Run.' Following last year's agreements with Chungcheongbuk-do and Pyeongchang-gun to provide educational opportunities for local students, this time Gimpo City has agreed to share the Seoul Run platform and cooperate in policy implementation.

On the morning of the 25th, Mayor Oh met with Gimpo Mayor Kim Byung-soo at Gimpo City Hall and signed a 'Memorandum of Understanding for Closing the Educational Gap' based on this content. This is the first time Mayor Oh has personally visited a local government office to sign an agreement for the expansion of Seoul Run. Mayor Oh said, "I came all the way here to sign the MOU myself, hoping that other local governments will also take an interest. So I came here on this occasion," adding, "I hope that through today's agreement ceremony, more students nationwide will use Seoul Run."

Mayor Kim also explained, "Gimpo has seen many development projects, leading to a large influx of population and a high ratio of children relative to the population. Through cooperation with Seoul City, we signed this agreement to provide quality online educational content to low-income students."

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Seoul Run is an online education platform launched by Seoul City in 2021 that offers free internet lectures to low-income elementary, middle, and high school students. Over the past three years, about 30,000 students have participated. Among 1,084 high school seniors and above who took Seoul Run courses last year for the College Scholastic Ability Test, 682 were admitted to universities. Notably, a 2023 Seoul Institute survey showed that students' grades improved after using Seoul Run.

Through this agreement, Seoul City will support Gimpo City in sharing the Seoul Run platform and implementing policies, while Gimpo City will focus on closing the educational gap within the region based on this. Starting in the second half of this year, Gimpo City plans to launch an educational support project using the Seoul Run platform for low-income high school students. Students will receive not only customized online learning content but also mentoring support.

Previously, Chungcheongbuk-do and Pyeongchang-gun, which signed agreements with Seoul City, have begun preparations to provide educational support projects using the Seoul Run platform this year. Pyeongchang-gun started recruiting participants on the 20th and will begin pilot operations in March. Chungbuk is preparing to launch the Chungbuk Run project in May, targeting 1,200 youths in population-declining areas within the province, offering online learning content, mentoring, and dormitory-style education services.

Mayor Oh emphasized that the Seoul Run platform is more effective when used in local areas. He said, "Building the system once is difficult, but once established, even if the number of users increases, additional funding is not significant, making it a cost-effective policy," adding, "Especially, the farther from Seoul, the more valuable it inevitably becomes."

He also expressed willingness to personally visit other local governments requesting Seoul Run expansion. Mayor Oh said, "If there are local governments that want it, regardless of whether they are metropolitan or basic local governments, the fundamental principle is to increase the number of beneficiaries of this policy," and added, "If any local government requests it after this time, I will actively respond."

Gimpo-Seoul Integration Also Initiated?

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During the meeting between the two mayors, the integration of Gimpo City and Seoul City was again brought up. The so-called 'Mega Seoul' plan to incorporate Gimpo City into Seoul was raised as a topic in October 2023 when Kim Ki-hyun, a member of the People Power Party, was party leader.

Mayor Kim said at the agreement ceremony, "In the future, not only transportation and education but also through integration with Seoul, I hope the citizens of Gimpo can enjoy systems, institutions, and infrastructure that fit their living area," adding, "I look forward to the day when Gimpo, which has the sea, and Seoul join hands to leap forward as a 'Marine City Seoul.'"

After the ceremony, in response to reporters' questions about Gimpo City's incorporation into Seoul, Mayor Oh said, "There has been steady progress in discussions so far," and added, "Our policy office is continuously reviewing the pros and cons of Gimpo City's incorporation into Seoul, and discussions are ongoing."

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