Actor Shin Hyun-joon and his family, selected as part of the fourth cohort of the Seoul I AM Ambassador program. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
Actor Shin Hyun-joon and his family, selected as part of the fourth cohort of the Seoul I AM Ambassador program. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

Actor Shin Hyun-joon and his family are among eight households chosen for the fourth cohort of the Seoul I AM Ambassador program, which promotes the Seoul Metropolitan Government's policies on pregnancy, childbirth, childcare and caregiving. The program's second cohort, launched in July last year, featured broadcaster Woo Hye-rim — known as Hyerim of the girl group Wonder Girls — who was a mother of two at the time. The third cohort, announced in February, selected singer Lady Jane (real name Jeon Ji-hye), who gave birth later in life after a difficult journey to parenthood.

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government on Sunday, 486 families applied for the fourth cohort — including households with multiple children, multicultural families, dual-income couples and co-parenting families — producing a competition ratio of 60.8 to 1. Starting this cohort, the city expanded eligibility beyond households with infants and toddlers to include families with elementary school-age children and those raising children jointly with grandparents or other relatives, reflecting the changing landscape of parenting and family structures.

The eight families selected through expert review represent a wide range of backgrounds, from a celebrity household to multicultural, expectant-mother and three-generation co-parenting families. They are: the "Shin's Cinema" family of actor Shin Hyun-joon, a beloved actor and parent of three whose childrearing experience spans infants through elementary school age; the "Kang-Kang Family," featuring national paper-airplane champion Lee Seung-hoon, who will share the warm everyday life of a multicultural family; the "Kangaroo Family," who will showcase a healthy and active parenting culture through stroller runs with their child; and the "Yushin Family," who will highlight the warm caregiving culture of three-generation co-parenting, with grandparents, parents and children all living together.

Over the next six months through January next year, the fourth cohort will produce video and photo content capturing their daily parenting lives and policy experiences, to be shared on the Seoul Metropolitan Government's official SNS channels. The families also plan to appear in promotional videos and posters and join campaigns to address the low birth rate.

The third cohort drew 994 applicants, a competition ratio of 124 to 1. The eight selected families, including Lady Jane's, produced 207 pieces of content over six months beginning in February, accumulating 26.44 million views. Starting with the fourth cohort, the city has broadened the program's name and scope to incorporate the voices of a more diverse range of caregivers.

Ma Chae-suk, head of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Women and Family Bureau, said the city would "actively support efforts so that more citizens can feel close to Seoul's pregnancy, childbirth and childcare policies through the vivid policy experiences and daily lives shared by the Seoul I AM Ambassador families, and together experience the appeal of Seoul as a great place to raise children."


ken@heraldcorp.com