Five-area initiative covering public health, cold snaps, snow removal, safety and resident convenience runs from Nov. 15 through March 15 next year; flu vaccination eligibility extended, welfare check app upgraded, road heating systems expanded
Seoul's Seongdong-gu has drawn up a "2026/27 Comprehensive Winter Plan" to prevent winter disasters and safety accidents and respond swiftly to residents' needs, running the initiative for four months from Sunday through March 15 next year.
The district will focus on five areas — public health and the environment, cold-snap response, snow removal, safety and resident convenience — to ensure all residents have a safe and warm winter. It plans to take preemptive steps against heavy snowfall and cold waves while strengthening protection for vulnerable groups and easing everyday inconveniences. This year the district has particularly reinforced measures aimed at resident safety and daily convenience.
To prevent winter infectious diseases, the district will support influenza vaccinations for children, pregnant women, senior citizens and vulnerable groups. Starting this year, free vaccination eligibility has been extended from children up to age 13 to those up to age 14, strengthening child health protection. A community infectious-disease surveillance system will also operate to enable rapid responses to outbreaks.
The district will also expand winter mosquito control to include septic tanks in small residential buildings, and will work to maintain a clean living environment through emergency fine-dust reduction measures and inspections of worksites that generate airborne dust.
For cold-snap preparedness, the district will operate a comprehensive support operations center and a disaster safety response headquarters in line with crisis-alert levels, running 48 cold-snap shelters — including community centers and smart rest shelters — along with 164 smart heated and cooled seats. Additional heated waiting spots at bus stops are also planned, expanding the spaces where residents can take refuge from the cold.
Protection for vulnerable groups, including elderly residents living alone, will be strengthened. The district will proactively identify households in need using 47 types of big data-based crisis indicators — such as electricity and gas cutoffs — and will intensively monitor at-risk isolated households through a smart-technology welfare check service. This year, a push-notification feature has been added to the welfare check app, allowing staff to confirm a resident's well-being through app alert responses rather than relying solely on phone call records, improving monitoring efficiency and accuracy.
In addition, the district will provide basic livelihood recipients, near-poverty households and emergency support recipients with insulation materials — such as bubble wrap and draft excluders — through its "Chakchak Seongdong Living Affairs Mobile Unit." Households vulnerable to frozen or burst pipes will also receive thawing services.
Snow-removal capabilities will be reinforced as well. Four additional road snow-melting systems (heating cables) will be installed, primarily along elementary school commuting routes, bringing the total to 61 sites. Snow-removal equipment and personnel will also be expanded to minimize disruption to residents during snowfall.
The district will work to prevent wildfires during the dry winter months. A wildfire prevention headquarters will operate, and additional firefighting equipment — including high-pressure hose storage units, wildfire-monitoring dash cameras and fire retardants — has been secured. This year, joint wildfire drills will be held not only with the fire department, police and other relevant agencies but also with neighboring districts, strengthening a cooperative response framework for rapid action when a wildfire breaks out.
Alongside these measures, winter safety inspections will be conducted at redevelopment project sites, construction sites, welfare facilities and multi-use venues. Safety management will also be tightened in areas prone to crowd congestion around the year-end holiday season, including the Seongsu-dong area.
"This winter, we have made our measures for resident safety and daily convenience even more thorough," Seongdong-gu District Mayor Yoo Bo-hwa said. "We will prepare rigorously for cold snaps and heavy snow, and will look carefully after every corner of residents' lives so that everyone can have a safe and warm winter."
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