About 200 people gathered at the district office Wednesday for the inauguration — covering everything from light bulb replacements to screen door and door handle repairs, with a 48-hour response guarantee. District Mayor Lee Seung-ro made the center his first official approval of the ninth elected term, calling it "lifestyle-focused senior welfare."
Seoul's Seongbuk-gu held an inauguration ceremony Wednesday on the first floor of the district office to launch the Seongbuk Haedeurim Center — the first project of the ninth elected term — formally beginning a lifestyle-focused welfare service for low-income senior households.
About 200 people attended the ceremony, including representatives from the Care Guardian Corps, the Seongbuk 50-Plus Center, regional providers of the customized senior care service, partner companies, heads of cooperating departments, and officials from the Seongbuk Welfare Foundation, all gathering to mark the center's launch.
The Seongbuk Haedeurim Center was established to quickly resolve everyday household inconveniences faced by low-income senior residents, improve their living environments, and support safer daily lives. The center is housed within the welfare policy division on the seventh floor of the district office, where dedicated staff handle complaint intake, operate a call center, and coordinate service referrals. A dedicated consultation number will also be available so seniors can easily reach the center.
Services focus on small-scale home repairs essential to daily senior life — including fluorescent light and bulb replacements, door handle, hinge and window screen repairs, and anti-slip pad installation. The center operates on a principle of visiting and completing work within 48 hours of a service request. Once a senior reports a household problem, staff verify eligibility, coordinate with a partner company to dispatch a technician, and complete simple repairs within 48 hours. Cases requiring specialized labor are referred to separate programs for more appropriate support.
The project will run as a pilot through December. It covers 13,261 low-income residents aged 65 and older in the district, as well as 184 senior community centers. The target population includes 11,444 seniors receiving basic livelihood benefits or near-poverty support, and 1,817 participants in the customized senior care service.
The district's welfare policy division and the Seongbuk Welfare Foundation, chaired by Yun Jae-seong, jointly run the project, with support from the senior and disability welfare division and neighborhood community centers. In the field, partner company technicians and Care Guardian Corps members visit together to attend more carefully to each senior's needs.
Moon Gyeong-ju, chair of the Seongbuk chapter of the Korea Senior Citizens Association, said at the ceremony: "On behalf of Seongbuk's seniors, I am grateful that the first project of the ninth elected term is the launch of the Seongbuk Haedeurim Center. We seniors will also do our part to contribute to the district's development and cooperate actively."
District Mayor Lee Seung-ro said he made welfare grounded in fieldwork — aimed at making each senior's daily life safer and more comfortable — his first official approval of the ninth elected term. "I will ensure the Seongbuk Haedeurim Center becomes a reliable channel that swiftly eases everyday inconveniences, and a symbol of Seongbuk as a place where seniors can live well," he said.
Based on the pilot results, Seongbuk-gu plans to refine the service's operational framework and establish the Seongbuk Haedeurim Center as an effective support model in senior residential and safety welfare.
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