The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) discussed the policies for the vulnerable with around 300 citizens for about three months and came up with 51 definitions of the vulnerable in six areas along with 26 policy proposals.

The definitions of the vulnerable include: those in the welfare blind spot such as people in the middle-aged group, people excluded due to the welfare differences of each district, and people who are unable to apply for the welfare service; the youth preparing to stand on their own feet such as adolescents that are no longer protected under institutional care, soldiers discharged due to injury, married-to-be couple, and young carers; the digitally vulnerable such as people with no access to phone, people marginalized from information, and people having trouble with new technologies; the mentally vulnerable such as psychologically isolated youth and schizophrenic patients and their families; the vulnerable resulting from industrial transformation such as employees and employers of small and medium-sized business on the verge of unemployment due to the rapid industrial transition; and the housing vulnerable such as those living in semi-basements and poor housings to state a few out of a total of 51 definitions in six areas.

A total of 26 policies for the vulnerable were proposed by citizens, mainly including policies to support people in the welfare blind spots such as households in crisis, policies for youth, and housing support for newlyweds.

The city will use the definitions of the vulnerable derived by citizens as a reference for establishing the policy for the vulnerable. After reviewing all the policy suggestions, four proposals that were approved by the relevant department will be awarded the Seoul Mayor’s Commendation at the end of the year and recommended as a candidate for the Seoul Creative Award.

Seoul plans to strengthen communication channels to systematically reflect the policy proposals from its citizens.