Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Choi Ho-kwon “Expansion of rest areas and safety at the Yeouido Flower Festival are top priority” [2024 서울 구청장에 묻다]

Open for five days… Place parasols everywhere
6,000 personnel including civil servants and police officers deployed and managed
Hangang water buses will also operate starting in October.
In line with the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s ‘large-scale renovation of the southwestern region’
Development services for semi-industrial R&D centers, etc.

As the perfect spring weather continues day after day, interest in the spring flower festival is increasing. In Yeouido, Seoul’s representative cherry blossom spot, a festival will be held under the theme of ‘Spring Flower Picnic’ for five days from the 29th to the 2nd of next month. Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, which hosts the event, chose ‘rest’ and ‘companionship’ as the keywords for this festival.

Yeongdeungpo-gu Mayor Choi Ho-kwon recently said in an interview with Segye Ilbo held at the cafe ‘Gangbyeonseo’ inside the National Assembly building in Yeouido, “We are focusing on ‘relaxation and leisure space with cherry blossoms’ on the 1.7km section of Yeouiseo-ro Spring Flower Road, where this year’s Spring Flower Festival is held. “We decorated the event venue with design and tried to create a festival that anyone could enjoy without prejudice,” he explained.

It is said that there will be ample space for resting and picnicking, as well as parasols, benches, and camping chairs throughout the event venue. For the first time in Seoul, the ‘Spring Flower Accompanying Barrier-Free Tour’ for the visually impaired is also being implemented. District Mayor Choi added that he would invite about 50 visually impaired people to enjoy the spring flower festival with their hearing and touch. We also planned a family tour for 150 foreign tourists from 50 countries.

It is expected that 3.5 million people will attend this year’s Yeouido Spring Flower Festival. District Mayor Choi said, “Safety is the top priority above all else,” and added, “We will deploy approximately 6,000 people, including volunteers, civil servants, police, and firefighters, and deploy safety management personnel throughout the area.”

District Mayor Choi declared that starting from this festival, he will revitalize the tourism industry in Yeouido and even throughout Yeongdeungpo. He said, “The potential of Yeouido, which is the number one preferred destination for foreign tourists and has the Han River that more than 60 million people visit every year, is endless.” He added, “When the Yeouido dock opens in October and the Hangang River Bus (water bus) begins operating, “There will be more tourists,” he predicted.

Mayor Choi said, “Yeouido will become the headquarters of the Korean Wave with Seoul’s representative festivals, the Yeouido Spring Flower Festival and the World Fireworks Festival, and the Pompidou Center, one of France’s top three art museums, opening in the 63 Building in 2025, and will lead the way in the era of 30 million tourists in Seoul.” said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Choi said, “In Yeongdeungpo, there is the Mullae Art Creative Village, where artistic sensibility is evident in every ironworks alley, and Seonyudo Park, which was reborn as an eco-friendly ecological park from an abandoned water purification plant, and there are two large-scale cultural complex shopping malls where shopping and cultural activities are possible.” He emphasized, “We will make Yeongdeungpo, the only Seoul autonomous district selected as a ‘Cultural City’ by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, more diverse and rich in the future.”

In this year’s New Year’s address, District Mayor Choi mentioned ‘young Yeongdeungpo’, named after the first letters of the district. He said, “We are taking this year as the first year to take a leap forward as a young Yeongdeungpo, a new economy luxury city in the southwestern region, and are moving forward one step at a time.” He added, “In line with the ‘Southwestern Region Major Remodeling Plan’ recently announced by Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, our district is planning a ‘development plan for the semi-industrial area.’ “We are in the process of providing ‘preparation’ services,” he said.

In the semi-industrial area of ​​the district, we will attract research and development (R&D) centers for companies related to high-tech industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robots, industry-academia centers, research and education complexes, and creative spaces for young artists, and create a high-quality residential environment to create a ‘job city close to direct residents’. The plan is to grow it into ‘.

We also strive to cultivate talent. Mayor Choi said, “We launched the ‘Yeongdeungpo-gu Future Education Foundation’ last January to foster future scientific talent that will support high-tech industry jobs, and we will select excellent scientific talent to visit the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) within the year. “It is planned,” he said. They announced that they will also establish a ‘comprehensive development master plan for the Gyeongbu Line’ following the passage of the ‘Special Act on Railroad Undergrounding’ in the plenary session of the National Assembly early this year.

District Mayor Choi is famous for his long-standing belief in local autonomy. After passing the civil service exam in 1990, he volunteered to work for a local government and entered public service in Yeongdeungpo-gu. After gaining various experiences in the Seoul Metropolitan Government, government ministries, and the Blue House, he returned to Yeongdeungpo as the 8th popularly elected district mayor.

District Mayor Choi emphasized, “Local autonomy and central politics are partners for regional and national development,” and added, “The core of local autonomy is to implement what residents want.” At the end of the interview, he smiled brightly, saying, “I want to be a district mayor who is not concerned about reaping results and leaving behind achievements now, but who looks ahead 100 years and lays the foundation for a great transformation.”

Reporters Kim Joo-young and Lee Gyu-hee

[ⓒ 세계일보 & Segye.com, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]