Seoul freelancer platform marks 200 days with August events

The Seoul Metropolitan Government will hold new-member registration and user-review events throughout August to mark the 200th day since the launch of Seoul Freelancer On, a comprehensive freelancer support platform, the city announced Saturday.

Running through Aug. 31, the events offer a 5,000-won beverage gift card to 150 randomly selected new members, and a 10,000-won ($7) beverage gift card to 10 members chosen for writing platform reviews.

Seoul Freelancer On launched officially on Jan. 30 after a pilot program began in April last year. The platform supports freelancers with contract management, payment collection, earnings tracking, and legal, labor and tax consultations.

A key feature is a secure payment system in which clients deposit contract fees in advance and release funds to the freelancer upon completion of work — a service designed to ease freelancers' concerns about late or unpaid fees.

The platform attracted 1,314 new members in the six months since its official launch, surpassing the 1,183 who signed up during the eight-month pilot last year. Secure-payment contracts reached 448 in the same period, about 2.7 times the 167 contracts recorded in the first six months of last year's pilot.

In the second half of this year, the city plans to pair the platform with an outreach consulting service in which lawyers, labor attorneys and tax accountants visit freelancers directly, offering guidance on signing up for and using the platform.

"The rapid growth in Seoul Freelancer On memberships and secure-payment usage is a meaningful result that shows freelancers need support for safe contracting and stable payment," said Park Gyeong-hwan, director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Livelihood and Labor Bureau.