Welfare chief to advise on policy development and system reforms based on field experience
Will help close care gaps, address aging and welfare blind spots
"We will build field-centered welfare policy that citizens can feel"
Kim Hyun-hoon, chairman of the Korea National Council on Social Welfare, has been named an adviser to the Seoul Council-Press Research Group. The group is led by Chairman Byun Jae-woon and Honorary Chairman Oh Jung-suk.
The group held its launch ceremony and first policy roundtable Thursday in the first conference room of the Seoul Metropolitan Council members' office building. Kim received his letter of appointment as adviser there.
The event drew Inaugural Chairman Byun, Honorary Chairman Oh, Seoul Metropolitan Council members, journalists, experts from various fields and officials from related institutions.
The research group is a private policy platform launched to diagnose major issues facing Seoul. It aims to reflect citizens' demands in policy and institutional reforms through cooperation among the council, press and civil society.
Its main activities include regular policy roundtables, policy research, polling, evaluations of council activities and the identification of exemplary policy cases.
As adviser, Kim will draw on the expertise and experience he has accumulated in the social welfare field to help the group identify welfare agenda items and set policy directions.
He plans to convey welfare needs identified in the field to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Council. He will also help devise institutional improvements that citizens can actually feel.
He will diagnose complex problems facing Seoul, including the low birth rate, aging, care gaps, social isolation and welfare blind spots. He will also work to strengthen cooperation between the public and private sectors.
Improving working conditions for social welfare workers and building a community-centered welfare delivery system are also expected to be key areas of his advisory work.
Kim, the 35th chairman of the Korea National Council on Social Welfare, has been leading efforts to unite social welfare workers nationwide and revitalize the private welfare system.
He previously served as chairman of the Korea Home Care Welfare Association for Senior Citizens and as head of the association of metropolitan and provincial social welfare councils. He has also served as chairman of the Haengbokchangjo social welfare foundation.
With Kim's addition, the research group aims to strengthen the connection between the welfare field and the policymaking process.
Through roundtables involving experts and practitioners from various fields, the group plans to examine gaps in the current system. It will propose effective alternatives — combining policy research with public opinion — to the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the Seoul Metropolitan Council.
"Welfare policy must go beyond supplier-centered system design so that citizens can feel change in their daily lives," Kim said. "I will fulfill my advisory role so that the experience and voices from the social welfare field are faithfully reflected in Seoul's policies."
"When the council, the press, the welfare field and citizens are closely connected, we can more precisely identify and resolve welfare blind spots," he added. "I will do my part to help the research group establish itself as an open policy forum that substantively improves citizens' lives."
7toy7@heraldcorp.com
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