Kang Seok-ju to advise on policy using welfare, health expertise

Group to tackle Seoul's low birth rate, aging and other complex challenges

"We will craft policies people can actually feel in their daily lives"

Kang Seok-ju (right), who chaired the Health and Welfare Committee of the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, poses with Byun Jae-woon, the group's founding chairman. The photo was taken after Kang received a letter of appointment as adviser at the launch ceremony of the Seoul Council-Press Research Group, held Thursday in Conference Room No. 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Council members' office building.
Kang Seok-ju (right), who chaired the Health and Welfare Committee of the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, poses with Byun Jae-woon, the group's founding chairman. The photo was taken after Kang received a letter of appointment as adviser at the launch ceremony of the Seoul Council-Press Research Group, held Thursday in Conference Room No. 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Council members' office building.

Kang Seok-ju, who chaired the Health and Welfare Committee of the 11th Seoul Metropolitan Council, has been named an adviser to the Seoul Council-Press Research Group.

The research group, led by Founding Chairman Byun Jae-woon and Honorary Chairman Oh Jung-seok, held its launch ceremony and first policy discussion session Thursday in Conference Room No. 1 of the Seoul Metropolitan Council members' office building. It presented Kang with his letter of appointment there. Byun, Oh, Seoul city council members, journalists, experts from various fields and officials from related institutions attended the event.

The group was formed to channel citizens' voices into Seoul's municipal administration and council activities and to strengthen policy communication among the council, the media and civil society. It aims to diagnose issues closely tied to residents' daily lives — including housing, transportation, safety, welfare, education, culture and the environment — and to propose workable solutions.

As adviser, Kang will draw on his legislative experience in welfare and health policy to advise the group on its policy direction and major projects. He also plans to help identify gaps in Seoul's welfare policies and support cooperation between the group and related institutions. This is meant to ensure on-the-ground feedback translates into concrete improvements to the system.

During his tenure as Health and Welfare Committee chairman in the first half of the 11th council, Kang handled policy and budget matters directly tied to residents' lives. These included public health and welfare promotion, protection of vulnerable groups, responses to the low birth rate, and support for children, older adults and people with disabilities. Building on that experience, he will help sharpen the group's expertise in identifying welfare agenda items and conducting policy research.

Going forward, the group plans to focus on complex welfare challenges facing Seoul. These include the low birth rate, aging, gaps in caregiving, social isolation, and the mental health of children and adolescents. It will hold policy discussion sessions bringing together field workers and sector experts to examine weaknesses in existing systems and seek improvements that residents can genuinely feel.

Through policy research and polling, the group will identify residents' needs. It will develop the resulting discussions into concrete policy proposals to submit to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Council. It also plans to identify and publicize exemplary council activities and policy cases.

Kang, in his role as adviser to the Seoul Council-Press Research Group, speaks about the need for field-based welfare and health policies. He emphasizes system improvements that residents can feel in their daily lives.
Kang, in his role as adviser to the Seoul Council-Press Research Group, speaks about the need for field-based welfare and health policies. He emphasizes system improvements that residents can feel in their daily lives.

"Welfare policy is not completed through numbers or systems alone -- residents need to be able to feel the change in their daily lives," Kang said. "I will actively advise the group, drawing on my legislative experience and network in the field, to help it come up with effective solutions."

"Problems like the low birth rate, aging, caregiving and mental health cannot be solved through the efforts of any single institution alone," he added. "We need a public forum for policy discussion where the council, the media, experts and citizens work together to find solutions."


7toy7@heraldcorp.com