Yoo Dong-kyun, chief of Seoul's Mapo District, has set "change that residents can feel" as his governing goal, presenting priorities for his elected term that include the swift promotion of redevelopment and reconstruction, the creation of a culture belt, and administrative innovation through artificial intelligence (AI).
At the "Vision Press Briefing" held Tuesday in the audiovisual room of the Mapo District Office, Yoo unveiled his vision for the next four years, saying, "I will create change that touches residents' lives, rather than policies for show."
"Mapo embraces the Han River, Gyeongui Line Forest Park, Wau Mountain and Seongmi Mountain, and has grown on the foundation of Hongdae and Sangam DMC," he said. "I will not be satisfied with this, but will seize change as an opportunity to build a 'Mapo that runs again, a future together.'" He added, "Over the past four years, I walked through every part of Mapo, listening to residents' voices and recording them. The seven notebooks I filled became the starting point of this elected term."
The vision Yoo presented that day consists of five pillars: improving the living environment, AI administration, everyday care, culture and tourism, and education and youth.
In the living environment sector, he identified accelerating redevelopment and reconstruction as a core task. On his first day in office, Yoo processed the formation of a "Redevelopment and Reconstruction Swift Promotion Task Force (TF)" as his first official approval, stressing that "the change residents feel first is the living environment," and expressing his intention to resolve delays in improvement projects.
Community sports facilities will also be significantly expanded. He plans to build a complex culture and sports center on Saeteo Mountain to introduce an international-standard swimming pool, while also creating small-scale park golf courses to increase sports infrastructure close to daily life. The idea goes beyond simply expanding facilities, aiming to promote health and expand leisure by operating customized programs that reflect residents' needs.
In the AI administration field, he put digital-based administrative innovation front and center. Saying "AI is no longer the future but everyday life," Yoo announced that he would gradually build "Mapo Brain," an AI administrative assistant that handles civil complaint guidance, complex administrative procedures and repetitive inquiries. He also plans to incorporate AI into welfare and care areas, such as systematically collecting health data for use in public health center health management and integrated care services.
On welfare policy, he stated firmly, "A good policy should not be scrapped because the district chief has changed, but should be continued so that it improves." He plans to stabilize and institutionalize the "Hyodo Meal" program—started during the previous elected term and well received by residents—as the "Senior Meal" by reworking its financial structure, and to refine a life-cycle welfare system through initiatives such as the "New Life Congratulation Package," the "Aimom Taxi" that helps pregnant women and infants get around, and the creation of respite shelters for families caring for people with disabilities.
In the culture and tourism field, he set the goal of leaping toward becoming a stay-oriented tourism city. "If tourists just look and pass through, it does not help Mapo," Yoo said. "They must stay longer and let it lead to spending."
His plan is to create a culture belt linking Gongdeok, Hongdae, Hapjeong, Mangwon and the Han River, connecting distinctive tourism resources in each area, and to revitalize street culture such as indie band performances and busking, turning time spent into local economic activity.
Regarding education and youth policy, he defined "investment in children and youth as the future" and made clear the pillar of education and youth support. He plans to adjust the direction of education expense subsidies so that children can experience survival swimming, rowing, one instrument per person and one sport per person, and to support startups and innovative companies centered on the Mapo Small and Medium Venture Promotion Agency, backing youth jobs and challenges.
Yoo also made his position clear on the Mapo incineration plant modernization project. "The modernization project must, as the name suggests, be purely about modernization; if other elements are included, it could meet resistance from residents," he said. "It is right to announce or push the project only after establishing sufficient consensus and social agreement with residents."
He hinted at the possibility of reviewing several projects pushed during the previous elected term. "Place names that lack historicity or do not match residents' sentiment, and unilateral naming that did not follow democratic and reasonable procedures, will be reviewed for abolition or revival," Yoo said, citing examples such as "Red Road," a tourism-specialized street created in the Hongdae area.
Finally, Yoo said, "If the seventh elected term was a time when we sowed and watered the seeds of hope with residents and carefully nurtured them, this elected term is the time to make those seeds bloom and bear fruit, and to share the harvest with residents." He added, "I will run and run again to build an elected term that achieves greater development and clear results."
