Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon Calls for District Cooperation to Boost Nighttime Economy

▲ Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon delivers opening remarks at the 204th Seoul Association of City Mayors meeting held at Seoul City Hall on the 14th.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon has called for the active participation and cooperation of the city's 25 autonomous districts in implementing nighttime economy policies to revitalize the Seoul economy.

Attending the 204th Seoul Association of City Mayors meeting held at Seoul City Hall on the morning of the 14th, Mayor Oh stated, "Revitalizing the nighttime economy, which we started to revive Seoul's economy, is difficult for the Seoul Metropolitan Government to achieve alone," adding, "The active participation and cooperation of all 25 autonomous districts are necessary."

Mayor Oh explained that since the launch of the 9th popular election term, the Seoul Metropolitan Government has formed the G3 Committee and, alongside experts in various fields, established a plan to be pursued over the next four years, noting, "We have selected 100 major tasks, are launching them one by one, and are progressing relatively smoothly."

He then remarked, "Advocating as a special city for quality of life, we began by prioritizing health," and urged the implementation of policies tailored to the conditions of each district.

While mentioning that Seoul's international standing has recently risen, Mayor Oh emphasized that even more effort is still needed to improve the quality of life for citizens.

He cited examples such as Seoul being selected as the world's best big city in a reader poll by the influential US travel magazine Condé Nast Traveler and British city and travel media outlet Time Out naming Jongno 3-ga as the "coolest neighborhood in the world," expressing his gratitude by saying, "Seoul has worked hard, but this is thanks to the 25 districts pooling their hearts together and cooperating."

At the same time, he stated, "Although global evaluations of Seoul are improving, we still have a long way to go in terms of whether the quality of life Seoul citizens enjoy day by day is also number one in the world."

Mayor Oh also requested the smooth implementation of the integrated care project, which has been underway since the end of March.

"I have received reports that the project is running smoothly, but I am curious whether seniors and people with disabilities are properly utilizing care services in the field," Mayor Oh said, adding, "I hope the autonomous districts will take good care of the sites."

He also expressed his willingness to communicate, saying, "If there are pending issues, the mayor's office is always open," and "I will meet with the district mayors whenever they request it."

During today's meeting, Lee Seung-ro, head of Seongbuk-gu and president of the Seoul Association of City Mayors, pointed out that the reflection rate of proposals previously submitted by the association has been low and requested active cooperation from the Seoul Metropolitan Government.

District Mayor Lee stated, "Among the local agenda items resolved and proposed by the 7th and 8th elected district mayor associations, only about 10 percent were actually implemented," and added, "This time, we will propose agendas agreed upon by more than two-thirds of the district mayors to the Seoul city government, so we ask that the city also deliberate more deeply."

"Proposals should not just end as proposals," District Mayor Lee requested. "If they are difficult to accept right away, please help us seek alternative solutions together, such as through legal revisions."

(Photo: Yonhap News)

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