justice & citizens right

JUSTICE& CITIZENS' RIGHTS

IN SEOUL

서울시정 영문책자 내지_최종_마지막수정.indd 3 2014-12-03 오후 8:26:36

01.

Helping Small Business Owners Gain

Competitiveness

02.

Uprighting biased views on labor

03.

Setting a Trend in Halving College Tuition

04.

Caring for sick relatives,

“I am not worried anymore!”

05.

Subway Line 9 Serves Its Owner—the Public

06.

No More Delayed Paychecks

07.

Here Comes Defender of Citizens’

Human Rights

08.

Helping Other Nations through Fair Trade

09.

How to Cut Apt Management Bills.

06

08

10

12

14

16

18

20

21

JUSTICE & CITIZENS' RIGHTS IN SEOUL


23

25

27

29

31

33

34

36

38

40

10.

Seoul, Going Women-Friendly

11.

Hello, Aspiring Entrepreneurs!

12.

No More Worries About Security Deposit

13.

“Can Anybody Help Me?”

14.

Affordable Housing for College Students

15.

Helping the Homeless Start Over

16.

Can Design Prevent Crime?

17.

“Hope Wagons” Light up Welfare Blind Spots

18.

Helping Immigrants Take Medicine With Ease

19.

Public Data at Your Fingertip

CONTENTS


06

: Laying a Win-win base in Neighborhood Commercial Areas

Helping Small Business Owners Gain Competitiveness

01

”Protection of Neighborhood Commercial Areas”

aims to create an environment that promotes

mutual cooperation among small and mid-sized

enterprises as well as sole proprietors struggling

under the weight of rampant business expan-

sions by conglomerates, and to ensure that the

small businesses survive and invigorate their

local economies.

In response to conglomerates making aggressive

inroads into neighborhood commercial areas

and threatening the very survival of the small and

mid-sized businesses, Seoul Metropolitan Gov-

ernment has started regulating conglomerates’

retail outlets and SSMs (Super Supermarkets)

by adoptining a municipal ordinance in response

to the National Assembly passing the Distribu-

tion Industry Development Act. In the face of

strong oppositions from concerned conglom-

erates, the district offices of Dongdaemun-gu,

Sungdong-gu, Sungbuk-gu, Jongno-gu, and

Jungnang-gu won their initial legal battles against


07

them in Sept. 2013. In Dec. 2013 the Constitu-

tional Court unanimously turned down a petition

by the conglomerates arguing that the Distribu-

tion Industry Development Act was unconstitu-

tional.

Subsequently, the City has taken proactive steps

either to convince the conglomerates to post-

pone their SSM expansion plans or to encourage

them to reduce the scale of their planned SSMs.

Seoul also has put forward amendments to the

Distribution Industry Act requiring conglomerates

to notify residents in neighborhoods where they

plan to open their outlets. The amendments

also include a provision including SSMs in big

shopping centers as one of the types of retail

business to be restricted under the Distribution

Industry Development Act. In addition, the City

has conducted research on neighborhood com-

mercial areas where SSMs or big retail outlets

were planned and has taken a closer look at the

plight of crumbling small stores. In response, the

city launched a Committee for Mutual Develop-

ment of Distribution Industry as a communication

channel between big and small/medium retailers.

In 2013, it played a key role in arbitrating con-

flicts between Mangwon Worldcup Traditional

Market retailers and a nearby Homeplus Store,

and between retailers in Woorim, Dongwon and

Dongbu markets and a nearby Homeplus Store.

In addition, the City has opened a distribution

center in an effort to help small and mid-sized re-

tailers cut their logistic costs and thus gain price

competitiveness. The Center enables the retailers

to share information on their suppliers and pull

resources on storing, packaging and delivery.


08

02

: Converting contingent workers to full-time employees

Uprighting biased views on labor

The plight of contingent workers forced to

endure poor and unstable working conditions is

one of the factors that leads to a host of social

problems including the ever-widening social

and economic polarization. Seoul has rolled up

its sleeves to break the bad practice of hiring

non-regular workers which perpetuates the

vicious cycle of poverty and underemployment.

Although everyone agrees to the necessity for

converting contingent workers to full-time em-

ployees, Seoul citizens and labor experts had

failed to reach any conclusion as to who should

do it and how. Labor organizations, the central

government, and the relevant department of the

City all had stood idle, unable to form a consen-

sus on policy direction. Against this backdrop,

the City conducted a number of surveys and

gathered internal and external opinions to resolve

the differences and draw mutual understanding

and common ground, ultimately deriving a work-

able solution.


09

Following its 2012 conversion of 1,369 non-reg-

ular workers it had recruited and employed in its

regular municipal operations, the City announced

in December of the same year “2nd Employ-

ment Improvement Plan for Contingent Workers”

which involved incremental conversion of 6,231

contingent workers outsourced from private

contractors to regular employees. Such a large-

scale conversion of contract workers to full-time

city employees is the first of its kind in Korea.

The incremental conversion began in 2013, start-

ing with cleaning contract workers and then with

facility maintenance and security personnel at

the City headquarters building, other municipal

facilities, and City-affiliated institutions.

Having upgraded 1,369 temporary workers to

a full-time status in two stages in 2012, the City

has established an internal policy requiring em-

ployment of full-time regular workers in all regular

and continuous municipal operations. Mean-

while, cases of indirect employment with deplor-

able working conditions but without any practical

means to improve it were mounting up, fueled

by the growing business trend towards slashing

costs, including employment benefits entitled to

regular employees.

In a response to the situation, the City govern-

ment has laid out a roadmap leading to conver-

sion of about 6,000 contract workers it currently

employs directly or outsources through private

contractors in the next five years through 2017.

The roadmap firstly deals with workers employed

directly by the City, converting them to regular

employees. This two-step conversion will be

implemented incrementally every year through

2017. In 2013, the City instructed its depart-

ments and affiliated institutions to employ 3,314

cleaning contract workers first upon expiration

of their individual contracts with their respective

agencies, and then to collectively convert them

by function of regular employees (public service

position).


10

: University of Seoul first to slash its tuition by half

Setting a Trend in Halving College Tuition

03

College tuition in Korea ranks the second highest

in the world, posing significant financial burdens

on both parents and students. Those without pa-

rental support have no other option but to work

their way through college, and while doing so,

they put their part-time jobs above their studies.

Their rights to studies and equal opportunities

stipulated in the nation’s Education Bases Act

are often violated.

To address this issue, Seoul City has announced

“Half-price College Tuition”, a policy aimed at

safeguarding the citizens’ right to education by

reducing the tuition burden. The policy has been

put into effect through the participation of the

University of Seoul which subsequently became

the nation’s first college to cut its tuition by half,

starting in the first semester of 2012. The policy

applies to all students attending the universi-

ty, including those in their fifth year and foreign

students in select majors. The other half of the

07


11

tuitions is paid by the City from its general ac-

count budget.

By adopting the Half-price College Tuition policy,

the University of Seoul ranked first in 2012 in

terms of tuition reduction rate, setting a standard

for other universities to emulate. As a result,

average tuition fees of 186 universities went

down by 4.48% in the same year. In 2013, most

universities either lowered or froze their tuitions,

except only 9 universities which raised their tui-

tions marginally.

Since the adoption of the policy, the University

of Seoul has been getting better qualified appli-

cants. It also has diversified its admission policies

to give more opportunities to those low in aca-

demic standing but high in the area of extracur-

ricular and volunteer activities.

The reduced tuition also has helped students im-

prove their living conditions with the money thus

saved. A survey has found that they now spend

more time on self-developing and are more active

in participating voluntary programs put together

by various student organizations.


12

: Patient-comfort Ward

The Seoul Medical Center, a public medical

institution, focuses on providing public

healthcare service to low-income families

even though it is operating in the red.

“An unexpected diagnosis of a cancer growing

in our father’s stomach literally has shattered

the whole family. Busy making our own individ-

uals ends meet, each of us takes turns keeping

a constant vigil by his bedside. Both son and

daughter-in-law of a grandmother sharing the

hospital room with my farther work so they can

afford a paid caretaker.

“Physically and emotionally drained, we also

thought about hiring a paid caretaker but quick-

ly realized a KRW 60,000-a-day caretaker was

beyond our financial reach. So, today once again

I sleep curled up on a hard dependent’s bed,

recalling the saying, ‘The parent’s protracted

illness quickly wears out the children’s filial piety.”

The Seoul Medical Center runs a special

ward where nurses provide nursing and

care services around the clock, thereby

freeing family members from the drudgery of

practically living next to their sick relatives.

Caring for sick relatives, “I am not worried anymore!”

04


13

With the growing increase of double-income

families or people living alone, caring for sick

relatives has become a “hot-potato” social

issue. Now patients and their family members

have access to a help more realistic and direct

than mere financial assistance. “Patient-comfort

Ward” provides a 24/7 nursing and caretaker

service to patients, including help with their meal

taking, exercise, and personal hygiene. The

nurses’ constant monitoring and the caretakers’

professional response to patients’ conditions

cut the likelihood of infection and expedite their

recoveries. The Seoul Medical Center, which

launched the service in January 2013, now runs

180 of its total 623 beds in its patient-comfort

ward, freeing family members from the drudgery

of practically living next to their sick relatives. All

caring services except for medical fees are free

of charge.

Professional nurses take care of patients 24 by

7 instead of paid caretakers who lack medical

expertise. Family members or patients don’t

have to worry about whether existing nursing

staff is stretched too thin to provide the care

service around the clock, or if they can give their

individual attention to each patient. The nursing

staff has been expanded to ensure the quality of

the care service being provided. In fact, since the

launch of the service, the number of patients in

the wards developing bedsore has significantly

reduced.


14

05

: Citizens-funded Subway Line 9

Subway Line 9 Serves Its Owner—the Public

“Subway Line 9 has made my otherwise stressful

daily commute satisfying since its launch. It is

convenient, pleasant, and most importantly, fast

with its express runs. I was pretty happy with

Subway Line 9 until I heard the announcement

in April 2012, that its fare would rise and that

transfer to Line 9 from other lines or even from

the expensive Metropolitan Buses would cost

additional fare. Faced with angry commuters,

Seoul Subway Line 9 withdrew the plan, but only

for a while. They said the fare may go up later as

Subway Line 9 is privately owned. It was hard

to believe how the public transportation system

can raise the fare just like that, without seeking a

consensus with the public.”

With the help of the public, Seoul has re-

solved this fare issue involving the private-

ly-run Subway Line 9 by restructuring its

ownership structure and creating a KRW 100

billion public fund with investments from its

citizens.

In late 2013 Seoul took steps to resolved the fare


15

issue. The City restructured the agreements that

had been made with the two major shareholders,

Macquarie Korea Infrastructure Fund and Hyun-

dai Rotem Co., for the agreements were foundto

be biased towards them. The hedge fund and

the subway car builder subsequently sold off

their shares to a new consortium of asset man-

agers and private investors and pulled out from

the management of Subway Line 9. To raise

funds and thus restructure the ownership of the

line, the City created a KRW 100 billion “Citizens

Fund”, the first of its kind in Korea. The Fund is

structured to allow citizens not only to engage

them in the management of the line but also

to enjoy returns on their investment. The Fund

garnered a nation-wide interest and sold out its

subscriptions in less than two days. The City also

has secured the right to determine the fares as to

prevent sudden fee hikes which have long been

a source of anger among the public.

After a public outcry over the controversies

surrounding the profits of the line’s two previous

owners, the City took pains to adjust the es-

tablished agreement with fixed rate of return to

level with current market rates in revised version.

Signed in 2005, the previous agreement had

guaranteed high returns for three decades, which

reflected high interest rates prevailing at the time.

Leveraging the know-how it had accumulated

during the four years of managing many subway

lines, the City negotiated with the new consor-

tium to reduce the operation fees by 10%, thus

saving itself KRW352.4 billion. Furthermore, the

revised agreement now allows the City to review

the consortium’s operating fees every five years

and thus ensuring that taxpayers’ money is well

spent.


16

: Seoul’s “Payment e-Now System

No More Delayed Paychecks

06

“Dad works at the construction site, but these

days he seems more tired and old than usual.

Maybe it is because he has not been paid for

quite a time. It has happened before but his

disappointment seems bitter this time. I ask him

what’s keeping his employer from paying him.

He says the prime contractor is dragging his feet

in paying his subcontractors even though he got

fully paid for the project, abusing the payment

system, and leaving people like Dad suffer the

consequence.”

Seoul’s “Payment e-Now” is a system

designed to prevent such a delay of payments

to subcontractors, equipment renters and

material suppliers, people who live with the

danger of their prime contractors resorting

to bankruptcy or other willful means to avoid

payments.

The Payment e-Now system, introduced in

October 2013 as the first of its kind in Korea,

confirms and manages all payment transactions


17

among prime contractors, subcontractors,

equipment renters, material suppliers, and other

people engaged in municipal work projects.

With this system in place, the City makes

work payments to designated banks which in

turn keep the funds in separate accounts for

labor, equipment and materials; once prime

contractors, subcontractors, and individual

workers submit their invoices to the system

and their payment requests are approved,

due payments are instantly and automatically

transferred to their respective accounts.

As the system enables payments to

subcontractors to bypass prime contractors, it

has effectively put an end to the chronic problem

of prime contractors making subcontractors’

lives miserable by not paying them on time.

Moreover, as the online system has replaced

the old system of manually processing payment

request documents, workers now receive their

payments fast and almost effortlessly.

Moreover, as the system monitors and

controls real time entire payment flows from

the City to contractors, workers and other

related businesses , the City can now ensure

full transparency in the operations of all of its

construction projects. As all payments are made

in cash, replacing the old practice of passing

on promissory notes or personal checks as

the means of payment, the system also has

effectively eliminated the danger of liquidity

crunch or contractors falling victim to a chain of

defaults.

To help its contractors and laborers tide over

temporary cash flow problems, the City has

signed contracts with leading commercial

banks which allow them to provide liquidity

support, at interest rates of 4.3% to 5.5%, to its

contractors and laborers prior to their receipt of

work payments. Wokers, equipment renters and

suppliers can check their payment status and

details through a simple process of smartphone

verification.


18

: Citizens’ Human Rights Defenders

Here Comes Defender of Citizens’ Human Rights

07

“On my subway commute, I always notice this

thing which still bothers me. It is the CCTV. I un-

derstand it is there to detect sexual harassment;

but does it really work during rush-hours when

the trains are packed with people? I feel uncom-

fortable because the privacy of people in the

trains including mine is compromised. My friends

say that I’m a little too uptight. But I cannot help

but wonder if the subway CCTV system is man-

aged properly or even been hacked. Whom can I

talk to about these concerns?”

Seoul Municipal Government has appointed

some civil human rights specialists as “Citizen’s

Human Rights Defenders” in charge of inde-

pendently investigating human rights violation

charges related to municipal affairs or operations.

Most recently, one of the City-appointed defend-

ers demanded that Korea-born Chinese and oth-

er legal residents of foreign nationality aged over

65 and over should be entitled to free subway

rides as are all Koreans in the same age bracket.


19

This issue may not have risen in the first place

had not been for the Defenders whose job is to

keep a sharp eye on for any sign of basic human

rights violation. Before the system was adopted,

the only way to basic human rights violation had

been appeal to the National Human Rights Com-

mission. Since January, 2013, the City’s Human

Rights Center has been opened to Seoul citizens

and residents seeking help with human rights

issues.

The defenders are required to investigate all

human rights violation claims related to the affairs

of the City and all city-related institutions, orga-

nizations, and business. Once an investigation

has been completed and the validity of a claim

confirmed, the defender in charge produces an

advisory report on the affair in question.

Not only permanent residents of Seoul but also

temporary residents, visitors or employees of

foreign businesses located in Seoul are entitled

to the human rights protection of the Defenders.


20

: Fair Trade City of Seoul

Helping Other Nations through Fair Trade

08

Anyone who has been to the City Hall’s base-

ment probably have thought, “What’s a gift shop

doing in the City Hall?” It is actually a fair trade

arcade, called “Globe Village” selling various

items from fair trade.

Fair trade contributes to a sustainable devel-

opment of less-developed countries by offering

better trade deals instead of giving aid. It helps

producers and workers of the nations make

products in an environmentally friendly man-

ner while consumers of developed nations pay

fair prices for their products. Typical products

bought and sold through fair trade include farm

products such as coffee, chocolate and sugar,

by-products, and handcrafted goods.

In May 2012, Seoul City declared itself Fair Trade

City. To fulfill its responsibility as the world’s lead-

ing metropolitan city, it has formed a fair trade

committee and passed a municipal ordinance

on fair trade. Fair trade products are available

through the Globe Village shop which also pro-

vides education and activity programs in an effort

to raise the public’s awareness of fair trade.

May 11th marks the World’s Fair Trade Day. Var-

ious fair trade products will be sold throughout

Seoul such as the Seoul Plaza and the Deoksu-

gung stone-walled road. Many events will be held

including film screening, photo exhibitions and

forums to help people learn about fair trade. The

City actively promotes the benefits of fair trade

in an effort to educate its citizens that they can

help hard-working people of developing nations

through trade, even more than from making

donations.


21

: Tips on how to reduce your living expenses

How to Cut Apt Management Bills

09

“Apt management bills have spiked in the past few

years. KRW 200,000 slipped out from my bank

account again this month. I don’t mind paying util-

ity bills, but what about maintenance fees? News

about apt residents paying inflated maintenance

fees makes me wonder if I have been padding

some trickster’s retirement nest. My neighbor says

she has been trying to scrutinize the bills for a while,

but gave up being too busy. Is there any way to

reduce the bills, even a little, since we all peddle

ourselves to exhaustion just to stay afloat?”

To answer this question, Seoul Metropolitan Gov-

ernment has published “How to Cut Utility Bills and

Maintenance Fees”, a result of a project led by the

City to find ways to lower apt management bills in

cooperation with 11 apt complex associations.

The project focused not only on lowering apt-relat-

ed expenses but also on promoting communication

and building community spirit among residents. As

a result, one of the participating apt associations is

pushing forward a communal child care program

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and a co-op system together with its residents who

have developed friendship through the project.

“How to Cut Apartment Management Bills” features

detailed and well-organized tips on which items you

have to focus to cut down bills. The tips are in eight

categories—including making clearly-stated con-

tracts for various construction and work services,

lowering maintenance fees, and raising miscella-

neous incomes—and are available to all parties,

from individual residents to apartment associations.


23

: Parcel Delivery and Home Security Services for Women

Seoul, Going Women-Friendly

10

“With a parcel delivery man’s text message saying

he is on his way to my place, I get busy, bringing

out big shoes from the closet, just to pretend that

there’s a man inside the house. When the door

bell rings, I snatch the package with the door half-

open. I close the door with a sigh of relief. This

repeats every time I receive a parcel; and my

anxiety level only shoots up whenever I hear news

about parcel delivery-disguised attackers preying

upon women living alone.”

The number of women living alone in Seoul

reached 450,000 in 2010 and has been rising since

then. This means the number of single women who

either worry about or have been victims of home

invasion are rising as well. In particular, parcel

delivery service has been a main source of anxiety

for women as most of them frequently face delivery

men due to their lifestyles. To address this issue,

Seoul has introduced a personal parcel box system

and installed metal containers comprised of rows of

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24

How to use the personal parcel box system

1. Use one of the nearby personal parcel box containers as the receipt address when ordering

goods online or a delivery service;

2. Upon placing the ordered good in the designated container, the delivery service sends out a

text message to the buyer containing the date and time of arrival, and a verification code.

3. Go to the container anytime of the day, enter your phone number and the verification code, and

take the package out from one of the boxes that pops open.

small boxes in neighborhoods with a high concen-

tration of single women. The personal parcel box

system allows single women to directly receive their

packages from boxes of their choice, thereby freed

from the fear of facing delivery personnel.


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11

: Public data provision, Foot Traffic Database

Hello, Aspiring Entrepreneurs!

“I will be retiring in next May. As expected, I have a

lot to think about as retirement draws near. I have

been thinking of running a fried chicken shop with

my wife, but I just can’t shake off this nagging fear

of failure. I hear my neighborhood is a good place

to start one, but I don’t have any solid information

to base my decision on. Business consultants

are too expensive but, without professional help, I

would have more or less outdated data. All I need

is some data on the number and locations of

restaurants and foot traffic in this neighborhood.”

Where can one most likely to find about people’s

real interests? The answer lies in Internet search

engines as people use them all the time to find

answers to their questions or needs, leaving digital

trails in the process. Then, what kind of place

would have detailed information on the daily social

and economic activities of people? District offices

could be one, as they interact with their residents

by receiving reports and applications related to

all aspects of people’s livelihoods. If the public

data held by district offices become available to

14


26

the public, wouldn’t such data be a big help to

those who need detailed information about their

communities? This idea was the starting point

of Seoul’s decision to make the data held by its

district offices public last year.

Now Seoul citizens can accurately identify where

and how many restaurants, public bathhouses

and beauty shops are located in their neighbor-

hood. All the public data that have been accu-

mulated at the district offices are now available in

digital format at the Seoul Open Data Portal, an

Internet portal. The portal is a treasure site for any-

one planning of or interested in starting a business

or developing apps.

At first, two districts were selected as a pilot area

and the district-held information on food hygiene

and public health businesses were made public.

The available information includes license regis-

ters, administrative actions taken and statistical

data on food hygiene businesses—such as gener-

al restaurants, roadside eateries, food suppliers,

and bars—and on public health businesses

including commercial lodgings, public bathhouses

and beautification businesses.

To ensure the smooth operations of district offices

and the accessibility of data at the same time, the

data in the system shared by 25 district offices will

be made public by the City itself.

As for foot traffic data, which is probably the most

basic yet critical information for aspiring entre-

preneurs, “Intelligent Urban Information System”

at Seoul Statistics (stat.seoul.go.kr) provides raw

data on foot traffic flows and reports, target area

analyses, and map service by subject.


27

12

“No more monthly rental for me! I have just

signed a long-term lease and finally got free of

the drudgery of paying rents month after month!

But the current lease doesn’t end for another

three months while the move-in date for the new

place is only a month away. I need the security

deposit back from the current landlord to make

the security deposit for the new place. But the

landlord says he won’t give me the deposit back

before the lease expires.

“I have done everything I could to persuade him

otherwise. I have begged him.. It did not work.

I’ve even cursed him, hoping to drive him to

yield. It did not work either. I’ve thought about

taking him to court, but the fear of losing the

case got the better of me. In Addition to the law

sounding “complex”, I have neither money nor

time for a legal battle. I don’t know what to do.”

No More Worries About Security Deposit

: Rent Security Deposit Support Center


28

Seoul’s Rent Security Deposit Support Center

helps people entangled in security deposit mat-

ters by providing various services ranging from

lease consulting to loan for security deposits,

conflict mediation, lease registration, and judicial

relief.

In particular, the Center specializes in helping

those who have to move to a new home before

the expiration of their current leases or have not

gotten back their deposits even after the expi-

ration. It provides bank loans funded by the City

or backed by the central government, or recom-

mends financing products.

Many are troubled by questions related to sign-

ing rental leases: how to verify the conditions of

places to move into; how much brokers’ com-

mission should be; what kinds of responsibility

come with the signing of lease agreements; and

what renters should do after the signing. The

Center’s certified real estate agents and lawyers

will explain what to do in plain language.

The Center also bridges conflicts between land-

lord and renter through its simplified arbitration

service before one of them takes a legal action

which can be complicated and costly. Anyone

can request for the service by visiting and call-

ing the Center and talk with one lawyer and one

advisor about his/her problem.


29

13

: Honorary Citizen Labor Ombudsman

“Can Anybody Help Me?”

“Sh*t, I didn’t get paid this month again. This is

third month in a row. My pay isn’t much, but the

company says it is having a “little trouble”. But I

have children to feed and practically live paycheck

to paycheck. I have no more resources left, and

I don’t want to look for another job until I finish

the project I have been working on so long. But, I

have a hunch that I won’t get paid any time soon.

Worrying about this and that, I couldn’t get the

rest I need last weekend. What should I do?”

Certified labor attorneys and other labor experts at

the Honorary Citizen Labor Ombudsman cen-

ter offer free advisory service to small company

workers, day laborers and other people eking out

a living on the fringes of society.

Seoul’s Honorary Citizen Labor Ombudsman

program has been established to offer profession-

al labor counseling service to workers frustrated

with problems at their work places and having no


30

place to turn to for assistance. 25 professionals,

one from each of the 25 municipal districts, help

protect the rights and interests of such workers

exposed to poor working conditions as those

working for small businesses and irregular work-

ers. The ombudsmen stand by the phone ready

to talk to those in trouble, come to any place of

their choice, and help them with their labor-related

issues.

The ombudsmen listen to any labor or welfare-re-

lated problems and advise the workers on how

to regain their infringed-upon rights. If necessary,

they put together various applications and peti-

tions in order to help solve workers’ labor-related

issues.

Any trouble of workers that does not get resolved

within current legal boundaries, is collected and

compiled to be used as a basis for making recom-

mendations on improving the legal system. Work-

ers and ombudsmen work together to prevent

unfair cases from recurring again in the future.


31

14

: “Hope Housing” giving brightens students’ lives

Affordable Housing for College Students

“Going into my third year at college, I was told to

vacate my dorm room for younger students. So

here I am, looking for a room to rent and realizing

how expensive it is to live in Seoul. Rooms that

suit my budget are not so suitable for female

students. Either they are tiny or their neighbor-

hoods look sketchy. Some of them are in the

basement. Decent ones in safer neighborhoods

are beyond my budget, and I don’t want to ask

my parents for help. Should I take a year off just

to earn security deposits? Would I be able to pay

high rents every month through graduation when

I have my student loans to worry about?”

Hope Housing Project supports college stu-

dents with affordable housing in safe neigh-

borhoods.

SH Construction, a City-owned construction

company, has bought out multi-family housing

units near or around 20 universities in Seoul and

turned them into student housing units. 161 units


32

are for men and168 units are for women. By

signing lease contract, students can stay for two

years, and with an extension agreement, anoth-

er two more years. Two types of housing are

available: a studio converted from multi-family

housing and a renovated multi-family housing.

All college students of universities in Seoul (except

cyber universities, continuing education institu-

tions, Korea National Open University/graduate

schools) can apply for housing. Priority is given

to students living outside of the metropolitan

area, and others of the following categories in the

order of listing: those from families receiving pen-

sions, those from families in the second income

bracket, and those from families below 50% of

the city worker average income (now expanded

to 70%).

Each studio is furnished with an air-conditioner,

bed, desk and wardrobe while the building itself

has amenities such as community rooms and

outdoor gardens, equipped to help the students

lead a comfortable lifestyle. For the multi-family

housing type, each student has his or her own

room while sharing a bathroom and a kitchen.

Visitors need to check in with security guards

at each building, which ensures the safety of

tenants, especially female students.


33

15

: Alcohol Rehab Center

Helping the Homeless Start Over

The homeless face challenges every day that are

physically and mentally draining. They want to

start all over again but just cannot stop drinking.

It is reported that 44% of the homeless in Seoul

are alcoholic and their dependency on alcohol,

and withdrawal symptoms prevent them from

living an alcohol-free life. Their alcohol addictions

often trump their wills and hopes for a clean life.

Seoul City has opened Alcohol Rehab Center

for the Homeless for the first time in Korea. The

homeless do not just suffer from poor physical

conditions. They also are prone to develop men-

tal disorders. The City has long believed that it

is necessary to treat their alcoholism before they

are reintegrated into society. TheCenter, treats

physical and mental disorders of the homeless.

The homeless can voluntarily join any of the three

programs it runs or they can be introduced to the

Center through the Seoul Homeless Shelter.

The Center is open from 9am to 6pm from Mon-

day through Friday.

The alcohol rehab center seeks to help the

admitted homeless start a new life through

systematic support for psychiatric recovery. Its

psychiatric recovery program is carried out in

two stages: psychiatrists disgonose homeless

persons suffering from alcoholism in consultation

with alcoholism specialists, and then conduct

psychiatric treatment based on the results of

disgonosis. The center’s social welfare person-

nel help the psychiatric recovery of the admitted

homeless by developing rehabilitation programs

customized to each of homeless patients.


34

: Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design

Can Design Prevent Crime?

“On my way back to home after work, chilling

words once again fill my head: “a dark night”,

“desolate alleys”, “broken windows...” Only

past a row of closed stores can I reach my

home sweet home. I wish someone were walk-

ing along with me, but the moment someone

actually shows up behind me, my heart would

just drop. It is exhausting to walk back home

every night scared and frightened, but leaving

the neighborhood I have grown fond of is a little

too unsettling, let alone moving to a new place

at a great financial cost. I just want to walk

around the neighborhood at night unafraid. Is it

too much to ask?”

‘Good Designs’ have been placed in Gongjin

Middle School located in a poor neighborhood

and Yeomni-dong, an old section of Seoul, the

former known for its worst academic perfor-

mance in the City and the latter for its a high

crime rate. The crime prevention design features

placed in the high-crime section have proven

not only effectiveness but also brightening the

ambience of the neighborhood. The redevelop-


35

ment-designated section has recreated itself by

turning its winding and dark alley into a fitness

circuit called “Salt Way” and installing yellow

utility poles with LED-numbered lamps and IP

cameras. “Safe Houses” with doors painted

yellow and emergency bells have been created

along the alley to allow passers-by to seek help

in the event of perceived danger or being under

attack. Some who have experienced the assur-

ing service of the safe houses have developed

genuine friendship with local people.

Meanwhile, the middle school has turned its

corners where CCTVs had been installed into an

art stage in an effort to make the space a place

of communication instead of surveillance. Psy-

chiatric counseling is offered by volunteer college

students working toward their master degrees

in the field. With the crime prevention design pro-

grams, Yeomri-dong and Gongjin Middle School

are turning into communities with clear signs of

rejuvenation.

Children are playing and local residents are exer-

cising on the alley once considered too danger-

ous even to walk. Fitness stations dot the alley,

cute paintings are drawn on the ground and on

the walls, and play features invite both young

and old. As people venture out more, the neigh-

borhood becomes more alive. Salt Way, once

a crevice of crime and fear, has returned to the

bosom of the community.

What’s so special about Salt Way is that resi-

dents are voluntarily engaged in keeping the alley

safe. Six Safe Houses act as a safe haven for

people in need of protection from crime, while

the voluntary neighborhood watch comprising

residents contributes to crime prevention, adding

to the sense of community in the neighborhood.


36

17

: Hope Wagons on the Road

“Hope Wagons” Light up Welfare Blind Spots

“Blind spots make us feel uneasy. As in driving,

our society has blind spots too that make all of us

feel always uncomfortable and sometimes cause

a problem we wish we had not overlooked.

Some elderly citizens living alone, single-parent

families, and child-head households subsist in

the shadow of the social welfare system simply

because one of the many qualification criteria in

the application says they are not qualified. Can

we find a way to help these neighbors of ours

when they need someone’s assistance? Winter

is a harsh season for them and cold weather just

makes their life harder.”

To address this often overlooked problem, Seoul

has implemented Hope Wagon, a public pro-

gram for delivering daily necessities to commu-

nity centers or other designated places. Needy

people can come to the said places to pick up

what they need and those having trouble getting

around can have Hope Wagons deliver the items

of their choice to them. The elderly living alone,

single-parent families, families stricken by natural

disaster, divorce, or an accident happened within


37

the past three months, families not qualified for

welfare by current welfare standards are entitled

to the Hope Wagon program.

The program supplies five essential items includ-

ing foodstuff, daily goods and heating materi-

als, as well as other items such as bread, fruit,

nutritional food, infant formula, diapers, tickets to

cultural events, as packages of items customized

to different groups of recipients. Each package

costs about KRW 30,000 to KRW 40,000. Prior

to Chuseok, a major holiday celebrating the

autumn harvest, along with daily items, foods for

ancestral ceremony, OTC drugs and nutritional

supplements are provided; and the program

increases the number of items and recipients to

help those who can’t travel to their hometown to

celebrate the holiday with their relatives, feel the

warm holiday spirit with their friends.

Hope, when shared, doubles in both quality and

quantity. Hope Wagons are met by many helping

hands of volunteers who also donate such skills

the needy lack as plastering wallpaper, washing

clothes, cutting hair, hygiene service, and house

repair.


38

Multilanguage service for drug prescription and instructions

Helping Immigrants Take Medicine With Ease

18

“What if you are sick but can’t take the medicine

just because the prescription is written in

Korean? Maybe that’s OK with you for you

know you can sweet it out. But what if your

baby girl is sick? You would feel frantic and

desperate for help. I know I would. Any mom

in the world would feel the same way. Many

foreign-born mothers still feel uncomfortable

speaking Korean even after many years of living

with their Korean husbands . Wouldn’t it be nice

if at least OTC drugs, if not prescription drugs,

have instructions and precautions written in their

native languages?”

With the adoption of “Instruction for

Administering Medication in Foreign Languages

for the Multicultural Family”, immigrant women

no longer have to worry about misusing

medicine. Medicine envelopes and directions are

written in seven different languages, specifying


39

dosage, when to have, how to store and how

to use external medicine. This information is

also available at Seoul’s Child Hospital website

at (http://childhosp.seoul.go.kr). Clinics and

pharmacies can download the information for

free. The information is provided as a general

instruction and also on medicine envelopes.

To help more non-Korean speaking people take

medication with ease, the City distributes the

information through public institutions including

25 City-affiliated public health centers, and the

Korean Pharmaceutical Association.

Given that many of patients are children,

the instruction includes tips on how to easily

administer medicine in powder to children, and is

available in 7 languages plus the Korean.


40

: Seoul Open Data Portal making all administrative information public

Public Data at Your Fingertip

19

“In today’s world, information is considered the

most valuable of asset. When information is used

to create something, it generates even bigger

values. Wouldn’t it be great if the vast amount of

public data held by Seoul City can be freely used

for the benefit of public interests.?”

Seoul has opened up two new channels that

enable people to access a variety of data and

statistics on Seoul citizens and thereby to devel-

op services that can improve the lives of many

people, and as a consequence, to bring a little

more transparency into the administration and

the budget spending of the city government.

Seoul Open Data Portal (data.seoul.go.kr) and

Seoul Open Data Plaza (opengov.seoul.go.kr) are

such channels where anyone can access, search

and use the huge amount of public information

the City generates every day.


41

was beyond the public’s reach.

“Open API” is an interface developed by the

City for app developers to access a wide range

of data and public services it produces and

provides on a daily basis. The interface helps

developers converge different services to create

innovative applications. The City also holds app

development competitions and private camps

that make use of its information to engage citi-

zens in the service development process.

The City produces and holds a vast amount of

data accumulated in the course of conducting

various administrative services ranging from

welfare, employment, housing, transportation,

environment, culture to education for its 10

million and plus citizens. Most of the information

belongs to the citizen and thus should be shared

amongst them, the City reasoned. To ensure that

everyone has access to all the information that

rightfully belongs to the public, the City has made

it a principle to disclose and share all information

except that legally classified and set up Seoul

Open Data Plaza.

Anyone can access the information made public

by the City through Seoul Open Data Portal, a

web-based integrated public data service win-

dow, for any purposes, ranging from developing

applications to creating business models. The

portal houses a large volume of public data rang-

ing from such practical information for daily living

as real-time traffic information and the prices of

goods at traditional markets and large super-

market chains, to statistic data on foot traffic and

water quality, information on asbestos use in

public buildings and on disasters and accidents

in Seoul and other information which previously


JUSTICE & CITIZENS' RIGHTS

IN SEOUL

Seoul Metropolitan Government

Planning Division

December 2014

EEPOP.Co.,Ltd (www.eeop.co.kr)

Publication

Production Department

Date of Publication

Design & Print

Seoul Metropolitan Government holds the copyrights and publication rights to this publication


justice & citizens right

Government & Nonprofit