Oh Se-hoon Meets Hawaii Lieutenant Governor to Discuss Children's Policies... "There Should Be No Difference at the Starting Line"

by Bae Kyunghwan

Published 22 Aug.2024 15:25(KST)

Meeting between Seoul Mayor and Deputy Governor of Hawaii State Government, USA

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with Sylvia Chang Luke (Korean name Jang Eun-jung), Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, USA, to discuss exchange and cooperation plans between the two cities, including children's policies. This meeting, held on the morning of the 22nd at the mayor's office in City Hall, was arranged as Lieutenant Governor Sylvia Chang Luke, the first Korean-American lieutenant governor in the 120-year history of Korean immigration to the United States, attended the '10th World Korean Politicians Forum' held from the 20th to the 23rd.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is shaking hands and taking a commemorative photo with Sylvia Jang Luke, Lieutenant Governor of Hawaii, after a meeting at the city hall office on the 22nd.
[Photo by Seoul City]

During the meeting, Lieutenant Governor Chang Luke introduced the children's policy she has been promoting since taking office, called Ready Keiki, and shared views with Mayor Oh on recent support policies for low-income groups, including a nutritional survey in Hawaii. Ready Keiki is a policy aimed at providing universal public kindergarten education for all 3- to 4-year-old children in Hawaii by 2032, expanding classrooms to ensure equal educational opportunities and support preparation for learning, academic success, and life success.

Mayor Oh expressed his agreement with the purpose of Hawaii's children's policy, saying, "Investment in children and education, which represent the future, is very important, and at least in education, we should be able to start on the same footing without differences in starting lines." He added, "Considering the Korean situation where pre-education already takes place from kindergarten or daycare stages before reaching school age, I think it is necessary to check if there is anything we might be missing," and said, "I will take a look again at Seoul's education policy by learning from the Hawaii case."

In addition, Mayor Oh introduced the 'Seoul Smart Life Week,' to be held at COEX in Seoul this October, to Lieutenant Governor Chang Luke and encouraged interest and participation in the event. After the meeting, Mayor Oh also presented the delegation with T-shirts featuring 'Haechi,' the Seoul city character symbolizing justice and safety, as a souvenir.