Guri opens new Gyomun 1-dong Administrative Welfare Center

The city of Guri held an opening ceremony Tuesday for the new Gyomun 1-dong Administrative Welfare Center, drawing about 130 attendees to the fourth-floor auditorium of the new building. Mayor Shin Dong-hwa presided over the event, joined by Guri City Council Speaker Yang Gyeong-ae, National Assembly lawmaker aide Park Seok-yun, city council members, heads of local institutions and organizations, community group members from Gyomun 1-dong, and area residents.

The ceremony opened with a pre-event performance, followed by an unveiling of the building's nameplate, a ribbon-cutting, a national salute, a progress report, commemorative and congratulatory remarks, a celebratory rice cake cutting, and a group photo.

The new center was built to address the deterioration and cramped conditions of the previous building and to provide improved administrative services. The structure — with one below-ground floor and four above-ground floors — houses a civil affairs office, welfare counseling rooms, meeting rooms, a community self-governance program room, and a multipurpose auditorium. It was designed as a resident-centered complex integrating administrative, welfare, and cultural functions.

In his commemorative remarks, Mayor Shin said the center would go beyond its role as a simple administrative office. "The Gyomun 1-dong Administrative Welfare Center will become a central community space where residents can communicate and come together," he said. "We will continue to do our utmost to create an administrative environment that any citizen can use with ease and to improve the quality of life for our residents."

Meanwhile, the Geojin-eup Community Self-Governance Council of Goseong-gun, Gangwon Province — a sister community of Gyomun 1-dong — also attended the ceremony. Council chair Yun Yeong-bae led the visiting delegation, which took part in a commemorative tree-planting event to reaffirm the friendship and cooperative ties between the two communities. The groups also exchanged views on ways to strengthen ongoing exchanges.