Yongsan-gu wins excellence award for community welfare plan

Seoul's Yongsan-gu has won an excellence award in the basic local government category of the Ministry of Health and Welfare's 2025 evaluation of community social security plan implementation results.

The evaluation, held Friday, recognized Yongsan-gu for tailoring welfare programs to residents' needs and for its efforts to strengthen community welfare. Covering last year's project performance across cities, counties and districts nationwide, the assessment combined written and in-person reviews, ultimately designating 44 local governments as outstanding.

Judges assessed the thoroughness of each plan, the degree to which targets were met, resident participation and satisfaction, the appropriateness of project execution, and efforts to build administrative capacity.

Yongsan-gu stood out particularly for welfare initiatives closely tied to daily life, including digital education for senior citizens, public safety improvements, and support for children and youth activities.

A program to strengthen digital literacy among older residents offered smartphone and kiosk training at 47 senior centers across the district. The curriculum expanded beyond hands-on practice to include digital drawing and AI literacy sessions, and user satisfaction reached 92 points — well above the 80-point target.

The district also ran a tailored crime-prevention design project in which residents, district office staff and police worked together to identify and address local safety concerns. At the Yongsan Youth Center, 32 student-led clubs in the arts, sports, science and community service fields held 619 sessions over the year, supporting young people's self-directed growth and peer exchange.

Programs supporting the independence and daily lives of people with disabilities also drew attention. The district operates Neuru Art, a studio for people with developmental disabilities, and produced and distributed Braille stickers called "Sonekkut Donghaeng" to help people with visual impairments distinguish between cards. A project called "Ddokddok Bokji" worked to identify people with disabilities who had fallen through the gaps in welfare services.

Building on the award, the district plans to strengthen cooperation between public and private welfare resources and expand services tailored to the welfare needs of each neighborhood. The focus will be on identifying residents who lack access to welfare and delivering support they can feel in their daily lives, with the goal of building a tighter community safety net.

"The results of welfare policy matter when the right support reaches residents who need it at the right time and brings real change to their lives," Yongsan-gu District Mayor Kim Kyung-dae said. "We will listen carefully to residents' voices and connect the district's diverse welfare resources so that everyone can receive reliable help close to home."