Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok. [Songpa-gu]
Songpa-gu District Mayor Seo Gang-seok. [Songpa-gu]

Songpa-gu in Seoul will hold its 35th Residents' Day ceremony Thursday at 3 p.m. at Songpa Culture and Arts Hall. This year's top honor — the Residents' Grand Prize — goes to Choi Eun-seok, a 97-year-old Korean War veteran.

Residents' Day was established in 1988 to commemorate Songpa's role as the host district of the Seoul Olympics, with Sept. 17 — the opening day of those Games — chosen as the date. This year's ceremony, the 35th, is also the first since the launch of the ninth elected-term administration, and about 500 residents and guests are expected to attend.

The centerpiece of the ceremony is the Songpa Residents' Award presentation. Fourteen recipients — 12 individuals and two organizations — were selected across eight categories: the Grand Prize, filial piety, volunteer service, model youth, community harmony, education and culture and sports, local economic revitalization, and civic organizations.

Grand Prize recipient Choi, born in 1929, has served as chair of the Songpa chapter of the Korean War Veterans Association since 2023, working to uphold veterans' honor and improve their welfare. He has also served as an advisory council member of the National Unification Advisory Council. He was recognized for his efforts to spread a culture of patriotic remembrance at home and abroad — including appearing on broadcasts to highlight the historical significance of the Korean War and the sacrifices of its veterans, supporting visits to South Korea by descendants of Australian veterans, and assisting overseas research institutions in their Korean War studies.

Other honorees include Min Seung-hyeon (model youth), who has logged 211 hours of volunteer work over eight years since elementary school; Lee Nam-yeol (education, culture and sports), who co-founded the Oryun-dong Sports Association and a community lawn-bowling tournament to promote grassroots sports; and Bong Yu-jong (local economic revitalization), who contributed to the management of more than 600 apartment complexes and the creation of about 9,000 jobs.

The civic organization award goes to two groups: the Jangji-dong Interfaith Council, a coalition of 34 religious organizations in Jangji-dong that supports vulnerable residents and runs community-sharing programs, and the Songpa District Architects Association, which provides free safety inspections, architectural consultations and repairs for aging homes through pro bono contributions from building professionals.

The roughly 90-minute ceremony opens with pre-show performances by Soribyeoldeul's K-Jangdan — a children's ensemble drawn from five Songpa-gu Kium Centers — along with the district's Silver Choir and Youth Symphony Orchestra. The program then moves to a commemorative video screening, the award presentations and acceptance remarks. The closing celebration features a collaboration between vocalist Baek Ja-hyeon and brass band Korean Arts, both participants in the district's youth artist support program "The Impact," followed by a musical and pop-opera stage by this year's selected act, "Ratz."

The venue, Songpa Culture and Arts Hall, is the district's first dedicated public performance hall. It opened last November after a full renovation of a facility originally completed in 1994 and long operated as Songpa Community Hall. The hall now seats 498, down from 607 under the old configuration, after the dense seating layout was redesigned for greater comfort. The renovation also replaced all stage equipment with modern systems, added an elevator for people with disabilities, created new lounge spaces, overhauled the heating and cooling systems, and improved parking facilities.

"I am deeply grateful to the award recipients and to all 650,000 residents of Songpa-gu who dedicate themselves to their neighbors and communities every day," District Mayor Seo Gang-seok said. "We will continue our service-oriented administration so that residents can feel in their daily lives that Songpa is a great place to live, and take pride in calling it home."


cook@heraldcorp.com