Songpa-gu Holds First 'Residents' Day' Ceremony of the 9th Elected Term

Songpa-gu in Seoul will hold the "35th Songpa Residents' Day Ceremony" at 3 p.m. Thursday at Songpa Culture and Arts Hall.

This year's highest honor, the Residents' Grand Prize, will go to Choi Eun-seok, a 97-year-old Korean War veteran.

Songpa Residents' Day was established on Sept. 17 — the opening date of the 1988 Seoul Olympics — to commemorate the history and significance of Songpa as an Olympic host city. Now in its 35th year, this year's ceremony is the first since the launch of the ninth elected term and is expected to draw about 500 attendees.

The highlight of the ceremony is the presentation of the Songpa-gu Residents Award. A total of 12 individuals and two organizations have been selected across eight categories: the Grand Prize, filial piety, volunteer service, model youth, community harmony, education and culture and sports, local economic revitalization, and civic organizations.

Grand Prize recipient Choi, born in 1929, has served as chair of the Songpa-gu chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association since 2023, working to uphold the honor and welfare of war veterans. He has also served as an advisory member of the National Unification Advisory Council, appeared on broadcasts to raise awareness of the historical significance of the Korean War and the sacrifices of its veterans, and assisted with visits to Korea by descendants of Australian war veterans as well as research activities by overseas institutions — contributions recognized as advancing a culture of veterans' recognition both at home and abroad.

Other honorees include Min Seung-hyeon (model youth), who has logged 211 hours of volunteer work over eight years since elementary school; Lee Nam-yeol (education, culture and sports), who co-founded the Oryun-dong Sports Association and a community lawn bowling tournament to promote recreational sports; and Bong Yu-jong (local economic revitalization), who has contributed to the management of more than 600 apartment complexes and the creation of about 9,000 jobs.

The civic organization award goes to the Jangji-dong Interfaith Council, a coalition of 34 religious groups in Jangji-dong that provides support and sharing activities for vulnerable residents, and the Songpa-gu Architects Association, which offers free safety inspections, architectural consultations and repairs for aging homes through pro bono contributions from architecture professionals.

The ceremony will run for about 90 minutes. It opens with pre-ceremony performances by "Soribyeol K-Jangdan," a percussion ensemble made up of children from five Songpa-gu Kium Centers, along with the district's Silver Choir and Youth Symphony Orchestra. The program then moves to a commemorative video screening, the awards presentation and acceptance remarks. The celebratory performances will feature a collaboration between vocalist Baek Ja-hyeon and brass band Korean Arts — both participants in the district's youth artist support project, The Impact — as well as a musical and pop opera stage by this year's selected team, Rats.

The venue, Songpa Culture and Arts Hall, is Songpa-gu's first district-run professional performance hall, which opened last November. The facility had served as a community center since 1994 before being transformed into a 500-seat performance venue after more than two years of renovation. It now serves as a local cultural space where residents can enjoy performances and cultural events in their daily lives.

"I am deeply grateful to the award recipients and to all 650,000 residents of Songpa-gu who have devoted themselves to their neighbors and communities throughout the district," Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said. "We will continue our service-oriented administration so that residents can feel in their everyday lives that Songpa is a great place to live, and take pride in calling it home."