Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan joins grassroots outreach in his home district

Kim Min-seok calls initiative a 'comprehensive livelihood photo album and white paper'

Kim Sung-hwan, minister of climate, environment and energy and regional committee chair for Seoul's Nowon-gu, takes part in the Bulfeum Minsendan outreach activity. [Democratic Party of Korea]
Kim Sung-hwan, minister of climate, environment and energy and regional committee chair for Seoul's Nowon-gu, takes part in the Bulfeum Minsendan outreach activity. [Democratic Party of Korea]

Close to 80 percent of Democratic Party of Korea lawmakers took part in the second round of the party's "Bulfeum Minsendan" (Friday Night Livelihood Alley Squad) grassroots outreach initiative, with members fanning out across the country.

According to the Bulfeum Minsendan, a tally of the second round of activities — held from Friday through Sunday — showed that 121 of the 154 Democratic Party lawmakers not serving as cabinet ministers or ministerial nominees participated, putting the voluntary participation rate at 78.5 percent.

Among the participants was Climate, Environment and Energy Minister Kim Sung-hwan, who also serves as the party's regional committee chair for Seoul's Nowon-gu, drawing notice for his active involvement.

On Friday, Kim spent more than two hours meeting residents along Suraksan Design Street in Nowon-gu, listening directly to their concerns about the livelihood economy, national health insurance, and housing stability for young people and newlyweds. He followed up on Sunday by holding a "Field Petition Day" to hear residents' everyday grievances and local issues. His efforts earned him recognition as a model case for the initiative.

From the policy proposals gathered during this round, the Bulfeum Minsendan selected a "Top 5 Policy Proposals" — ideas requiring follow-up through budgeting, policy action or legislation — as well as "Four Nationwide Common Public Sentiment Tasks" drawn from concerns raised consistently across multiple regions.

The first proposal, expanding support for five-day-a-week lunch service at senior centers, was gathered by lawmaker Lee Geon-tae. It calls for stable central government funding and support criteria that reflect actual usage. The proposal reflects on-the-ground voices saying national-level support is needed to faithfully implement the party's 2024 general election pledge and to sustainably expand lunch provision at senior centers.

The second proposal, boosting the use of Onuri gift vouchers, came from lawmakers Park Ji-won, Kim Tae-nyeon and Choi Min-hee. It calls for expanding the vouchers' accepted venues to include general retail stores and converting the existing senior sports voucher program into everyday-use vouchers such as Onuri. The aim is to improve convenience for residents while revitalizing neighborhood commercial districts.

The third proposal — pursuing UNESCO World Heritage designation for traditional markets — was gathered from traditional market vendors by lawmaker Lee Hun-gi, who leads his party's side on the committee. It calls for recognizing the historical and cultural value of traditional markets as K-culture assets and linking that recognition to tourism and local commerce. The underlying goal is to develop traditional markets beyond simple retail spaces into cultural and tourism assets for their communities.

The fourth proposal, shortening the service period for military doctors and public health physicians, was submitted by lawmaker Jin Sung-joon. It is a legislative task to reduce the current 36-month service requirement to 24 months, on the grounds that the existing term is disproportionately long compared with other forms of military service and warrants a rational adjustment.

The fifth proposal, put forward by lawmaker Im Mun-yeong, calls for building parking facilities on the outskirts of commercial districts and linking them to autonomous driving transport to ease downtown parking shortages and traffic congestion. The proposal also takes into account the possibility of testing real-world applications in connection with autonomous driving pilot projects set to begin in the Jeonnam-Gwangju Special City this autumn.

The Bulfeum Minsendan also announced the "Four Nationwide Common Public Sentiment Tasks," compiled from concerns raised consistently across multiple regions during this round.

The most widely raised concern nationwide was revitalizing traditional markets and neighborhood commercial districts, with 19 lawmakers and regional committee chairs collecting related opinions. Calls came from multiple regions for expanded support for traditional markets and neighborhood shopping streets, and for widening the accepted venues for local currency and Onuri gift vouchers to inject vitality into local commerce.

Real estate policy was flagged as a common concern for the second consecutive round. Twelve lawmakers and regional committee chairs relayed a range of field opinions, including expanding housing support for first-time buyers such as young people and newlyweds, easing loan regulations, resolving delays in reconstruction and redevelopment projects, increasing housing supply, and relaxing regulations on temporary two-home owners.

Easing the financial burden on small business owners was also raised again as a common concern. Eight lawmakers and regional committee chairs conveyed calls to expand policy financing and financial support and to ease the burden of loan repayments and interest rates for struggling small business owners.

Demands for expanding public parking and improving parking convenience were heard across the country as well. Fifteen lawmakers and regional committee chairs reported chronic parking shortages in traditional markets, neighborhood commercial districts and residential areas, calling for more public parking facilities and better parking conditions in living zones.

Meanwhile, Democratic Party leader Kim Min-seok proposed creating a continuously updated e-book compiling each lawmaker's activities as a way to build a lasting record of the Bulfeum Minsendan's work and achievements.

"It would be wonderful to compile each lawmaker's activities and produce an e-book that keeps being updated and accumulated," Kim said. "It will become a comprehensive livelihood photo album and a livelihood white paper."

Park Ji-won, who heads the Bulfeum Minsendan, said he was grateful that most lawmakers and regional committee chairs had participated in an exemplary manner. "We will stay even closer to public sentiment, with the resolve to find answers from within the people, and we will work hard to uncover more model cases," he said.

Lawmaker Lee Hun-gi said the group would go deeper into communities every Friday, encouraging one another alongside senior and fellow lawmakers and regional committee chairs. "This is not a one-off or two-off event — if we consistently visit the field and sincerely listen to the people's voices, I believe the public will ultimately recognize that sincerity and be moved by it," he said.


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