Seongnam City Secures Feasibility for Welfare Foundation Establishment... Accelerates Launch in Second Half of This Year

Appropriateness of Establishment Plan and Regional Economic Impact Rated 'High'
61.3% of Citizens Give a 'Positive' Assessment

Seongnam City, Gyeonggi Province (Mayor Shin Sang-jin) is accelerating the launch of the ‘Welfare Foundation’ in the second half of this year after securing its feasibility to strengthen the citizen welfare system.

Seongnam City Hall view. Provided by Seongnam City.

The city announced on the 17th that the comprehensive conclusion of the research project conducted over the past seven months by the Gyeonggi Research Institute was that ‘there is feasibility for establishing the Welfare Foundation.’

The Gyeonggi Research Institute evaluated 11 items such as the appropriateness of the establishment plan and expected effects, categorizing feasibility into three levels: ‘high,’ ‘medium,’ and ‘low.’

Items rated as ‘high’ included appropriateness of the project entity, organizational and personnel demand, appropriateness of investment and contribution plans, consistency between the budget and expected outcomes, regional economic ripple effects, and local fiscal effects, totaling six items.

The remaining five evaluation items, including whether the project would be publicly executed and plans for reducing government staff, were rated as ‘medium.’

Regarding the regional economic ripple effects, the production inducement effect was predicted to be 21 billion KRW over five years, the value-added inducement effect 14 billion KRW, and the employment inducement effect 200 jobs.

During the feasibility review process, a mobile survey was conducted from January 16 to February 12 targeting 700 Seongnam citizens aged 19 and older, asking 25 items.

Regarding the necessity of establishing the Welfare Foundation, 61.3% (429 people) of the 700 respondents answered ‘positive,’ 30.1% (211 people) answered ‘neutral,’ and negative responses accounted for only 8.6% (60 people).

In response to the question about expected effects from establishing the Welfare Foundation (multiple answers allowed), 40.1% (281 people) cited expansion and improvement of welfare projects, 39.4% (276 people) cited rapid response to changes in the welfare environment, and 38.4% (269 people) cited elimination of welfare blind spots.

The city plans to formalize the launch of the Seongnam Welfare Foundation by following subsequent administrative procedures such as the review by the Seongnam City Investment and Contribution Institution Operation Deliberation Committee and the Gyeonggi Province Investment and Contribution Institution Operation Deliberation Committee.

Seongnam City expects that a total of 4.1 billion KRW will be required to establish the Welfare Foundation, including 3 billion KRW in capital, 600 million KRW in initial costs, and 500 million KRW in operating expenses.

A Seongnam City official said, “The Welfare Foundation will serve as a central institution connecting the private and public sectors, establishing social welfare policies tailored to regional characteristics and providing integrated and customized welfare services to local residents, thereby further strengthening Seongnam’s welfare system. We will proceed with the remaining procedures without delay and ensure the foundation’s successful launch through close communication and cooperation with the Seongnam City Council.”

Meanwhile, there are currently 41 local governments nationwide operating welfare foundations. Among them, six in Gyeonggi Province have welfare foundations, including Gimpo City, Siheung City, Pyeongtaek City, Gapyeong County, Hwaseong City, and Namyangju City.

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