Oh Se-hoon, Ahead of Presidential Run, Repeatedly Walks with Disabled... "Offering a Better Tomorrow"

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is focusing on the 'Yakja Donghaeng' (Accompanying the Vulnerable) initiative ahead of his presidential election candidacy announcement. 'Yakja Donghaeng' is a core policy principle for Mayor Oh's presidential campaign and a key philosophy of his administration. Representative projects such as Seoul Run, Didimdol Income, Mirinae House, and the jjokbangchon accompaniment project have proven effective, with continued participation from companies.

On the afternoon of the 10th, Mayor Oh attended the 'Didimdol Income Roundtable' held at the Seoul Welfare Foundation in Mapo-gu, where he mentioned the effect of reducing welfare dependency through Didimdol Income, stating, "We will expand the experimental subjects to build a more perfect K-welfare system and provide citizens with a better tomorrow."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is attending and conversing at the 'Didimdol Income Meeting' held at the Seoul Welfare Foundation located in Mapo-gu on the 10th. Photo by Seoul City

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The roundtable was organized to meet citizens supported by Seoul's income-guarantee welfare experiment, 'Didimdol Income,' aimed at resolving polarization and inequality, to confirm changes in their lives and explore policy-sharing methods with other local governments. At the event, Mayor Oh emphasized, "Didimdol Income was born after countless considerations to create a welfare system where no Seoul citizen is left behind," adding, "Didimdol Income is a new initiative proven to reduce welfare blind spots and dependency." 'Didimdol Income' is a system that supplements a certain amount of household income lacking compared to the standard income for households earning 85% or less of the median income. It follows a bottom-heavy support model, providing more assistance to those with lower incomes.

Mayor Oh has already made Yakja Donghaeng the cornerstone of his presidential policy pledges. Having prioritized Yakja Donghaeng as the top administrative task, he created the Yakja Donghaeng Index and put income-guarantee experiments like Didimdol Income and the educational platform Seoul Run on a solid track. This reflects Mayor Oh's judgment that "accompanying the vulnerable?embracing those left behind in the process of development and prosperity and moving forward together?is the most important value." He also mentioned, "The administrative philosophy was 'a special city of accompaniment charm,' and future pledges across various fields will focus primarily on accompanying the vulnerable."

Accordingly, this week’s external schedule is also aligned with 'Yakja Donghaeng.' On the 8th, he attended the 'Seoul Run Student Invitation Roundtable' held at a study room in Geumcheon-gu, expressing confidence in policy expansion by saying, "Currently, support is limited to those at 60% of median income, but I am recommending to the government that the standard be raised to 80%." Seoul Run is Oh Se-hoon's educational welfare project that provides free online lectures and one-on-one mentoring to vulnerable students aged 6 to 24 who have difficulty accessing private education due to social and economic reasons.

The previous day, he attended a roundtable at the Youth Employment Academy Dobong Campus, emphasizing, "If I had to pick the most important thing in economic policy, it would be nurturing talent and supplying it to the industries that need it at the right time." He added, "We will continue to support the Youth Employment Academy, which produces 10,000 AI (artificial intelligence) technology professionals annually, so it can become a cradle for nurturing global advanced industry talent beyond Korea." At this event, he officially announced his presidential candidacy and presented the core principles of his campaign policies. Mayor Oh stated, "The economic situation is very difficult, and at times like this, we must think about the economically and socially vulnerable."

This approach is expected to become even more prominent during his presidential campaign activities. Mayor Oh’s aides are reportedly selecting nationwide presidential policy pledges based on the Yakja Donghaeng policies proven effective in Seoul. His team said, "(Mayor Oh) believes Yakja Donghaeng should be the party’s identity to solve Korea’s polarization issues and promote harmony and unity. As he has advocated 'warm conservatism,' he will continue to discover policies to embrace the vulnerable and establish institutional support to actively back these efforts."

Mayor Oh’s presidential candidacy announcement venue is also attracting attention. He is scheduled to officially declare his candidacy for the 21st presidential election on the 13th. His team previewed, "The venue will be symbolic, representing the 'Yakja Donghaeng' policy, which has been the central axis of Mayor Oh’s four-term Seoul administration, and will serve as a place to extend this policy nationwide."

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