Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon revealed his determination to normalize the administration of the Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) and redouble efforts for the recovery of the livelihoods of the capital city’s residents.
In his New Year’s message, Mayor Oh said, “Nine months have passed since I returned back to office, and I saw Seoul undergo lots of changes when I came back in 10- years and the reality of Seoul, the site of living for 10 million Seoulites, was stark.”
Mayor Oh expressed hope that Seoulites can return to normal as soon as possible as the COVID-19 pandemic eases and healing of the scars of people’s daily lives and policies made under the “Seoul Vision 2030” will be materialized one by one.
“I will push for normalizing to the future SMG’s administration, which retrogressed to the past, without wavering through ‘normalizing Seoul’,” Mayor Oh said.
Mayor Oh said SMG will concentrate on disinfecting the pandemic and restoring people’s collapsed livelihoods and lives.
“Seoul Government Hospital will be mobilized and an additional 1,813 sickbeds will be secured in cooperation of civilian hospitals to total 4,399 beds,” he said, adding that sickbeds for treating pregnant women and dialysis patients will be set aside separately.
“SMG begin to finance 800,000 won in rent to small businesses with less than 200 million won in annual sales from February in a project to provide finance support to protect small businesses in Seoul and a 1 trillion won safety financing to give an vigor into small businesses and self-employed businesses,” the mayor said. ‘’
Seoul Mayor Oh looks at a construction site of the Silim Urban Railway Line as the new year’s his first inspection tour on Jan. 3. (Photos: SMG)
Mayor Oh said SMG will ramp up support for the underprivileged by creating the “Seoul-type safety welfare ladder” while supporting youth frustrated with injustice and inequality to solve a super-low birth rate.
As for housing policies, Mayor Oh said SMG will continue to increase housing supply through the implementation of redevelopment and reconstruction projects.
SMG plans to announce the “2040 Seoul Urban Master Plan, Seoul’s top-level city design scheme, this year.
SMG will launch a project to create an international business district in Yongsan and invigorate the utilization of 75 water-front river areas to reshape the capital’s space, the mayor said.
SMG will complete a project to change the Chang-dong and Sanggye-dong area into a new economy center with multi-purpose cultural facilities and transform the Susaek, DMC and Magok areas into new economy centers in which large- and small-sized companies coexist.
Mayor Oh said SMG will concentrate on providing support to the cultural content industry, one of the capital’s strengths, as part of efforts to make Seoul an “attractive beauty city,” while expanding its urban railway network fast and actualizing self-driving.
Lastly, Mayor Oh quoted “yujisaseong,” a Chinese saying meaning that “if you make strenuous efforts to achieve a target, it will finally come true.”
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