200 residents to be recruited through Oct. 20 — selected participants will attend two preliminary forums and a main assembly to shape district policy through agenda proposals, roundtable debates and real-time voting
Yeongdeungpo-gu is recruiting 200 residents to take part in "Minhoe," a democratic assembly where citizens propose and debate local issues that are then reflected in district policy. Applications are open through Oct. 20.
The initiative is part of the district's effort to put its guiding principle of "resident sovereignty" — a core value of what it calls a "constitutional city" — into practice alongside the community.
The name "Minhoe" draws on the ancient Athenian citizen assembly known as the "Ekklesia," meaning "those who are summoned." Yeongdeungpo-gu describes it as a direct-democracy forum unique to the district, where residents gather to deliberate on local issues from multiple angles and determine the final direction of district affairs through discussion and real-time voting.
The 200 selected participants will first attend two preliminary forums in November at the gymnasium on the fifth floor of the Yeongdeungpo-dong Community Service Center. There they will debate agenda items submitted by residents through an online platform and other channels, then use real-time voting to narrow the list to three to five representative topics. The main "Minhoe" assembly, scheduled for early December, will follow, at which participants will decide the district's final policy agenda.
Agenda items finalized at the assembly will be actively incorporated into next year's district administration, translating decisions made directly by residents into concrete policy.
Any resident with a registered address in Yeongdeungpo-gu as of the announcement date is eligible to apply. Applications can be submitted online through the Yeongdeungpo-gu district office website or by scanning the QR code on promotional materials, or in person at the community service center in the applicant's neighborhood. Participants will be selected by random draw from among all applicants.
"The people's sovereignty guaranteed by the constitution is not an abstract slogan — it is only truly fulfilled when residents directly discuss and decide the policies that affect their own lives," District Mayor Jo Yu-jin said. "I ask all residents to take an active part in this journey toward a genuine democracy where citizens are the true owners."
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