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
14

22
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
14

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.

25
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

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Justice & citizens right

Similar to Justice & citizens right (20)

More from simrc

More from simrc (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Justice & citizens right