Ahead of the Chuseok holiday, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT Bae Kyung-hoon visited a traditional market and a social welfare facility in succession to inspect conditions on the ground and offer comfort to marginalized neighbors. The visit served both to observe holiday business activity firsthand and to express his commitment to spreading a culture of sharing.
 [코리안투데이] Deputy Prime Minister Bae Kyung-hoon visits Huam Market and purchases relief goods © 장형임 기자 |
The Ministry of Science and ICT (Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Bae Kyung-hoon) announced that Deputy Prime Minister Bae visited Huam Market in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, and the social welfare facility Youngrak Annia House on the afternoon of September 21, inspecting conditions on the ground and taking part in activities to comfort neighbors.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae first visited Huam Market (102-2 Huam-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul), where he met with the head of the merchants’ association and local vendors. He personally checked the state of business at the traditional market ahead of the holiday and, using Onnuri gift certificates, purchased Chuseok relief goods including food ingredients for holiday meals. As the use of Onnuri gift certificates is directly tied to boosting spending at traditional markets, the move is seen as one that offers tangible help to the sales of small business owners.
He then visited the social welfare facility Youngrak Annia House (director Cho Ji-young, 70 Huam-ro 4-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul), where he delivered a neighborly love fund raised by Ministry of Science and ICT employees along with the goods purchased at the traditional market. Deputy Prime Minister Bae expressed his wish that the residents and facility staff would enjoy a healthy and happy holiday.
Deputy Prime Minister Bae said, ‘As Chuseok arrives, we must share warm affection so that the marginalized neighbors around us do not feel lonely,’ adding, ‘I will continue to do my utmost so that a culture of sharing can spread throughout our society through ongoing attention and volunteer activities.’
This visit can be seen as a move that people can feel directly, in that it inspected the commercial district of traditional markets, which tend to contract ahead of the holiday, and looked after neighbors in the blind spots of welfare. In particular, by jointly delivering a fund voluntarily raised by ministry employees, it added the meaning of sharing in which members take part, going beyond a formal institutional visit.
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