Seoul Maryor Park Won-soon.

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon launched a one-month mission on Oct. 7 to lend an ear to the voices of on-the-job workers and explore ways of creating quality jobs. 

The Seoul mayor is touring 99 worksites from Oct. 7 until Oct. 31.

Under the catchphrase “Creating Jobs,” Seoul Mayor Park toured E-mart’s Seongsu branch on the first leg of his tour and landed a one-day part-time job. 

Mayor Park, wearing blue jeans and sneakers, was assigned with displaying such items as beverage drinks, canned bear and instant noodle ramyeon with part-time youths and retrieving carts starting at 2 p.m. He signed up for a one-day labor contract, earning 5,960 won per hour. He toiled there for two hours, carrying boxes each weighing 8.7 kg.

After finishing his manual work, Mayor Park had a meeting with E-mart workers who have had their status changed from part-timer to full-timer to lend an ear to their voices on labor conditions. 

Park, in a meeting with reporters on the same day, admitted that though he embarked on the “journey to create jobs,” it is not easy to do so due to the metropolitan government’s limited financial resources. He said, “Now that only Seoul City cannot create quality jobs, universities and companies also have to join forces in doing so.”

E-mart is one of the nation’s exemplary work sites, said Mayor Park, adding that it may be possible to take its cue on policies while experiencing the reality of work sites and the difficulties youth face at part-time jobs. 

In the morning, the mayor signed an agreement with 17 institutions from the government, company, labor, financing circles and universities to make joint efforts to create jobs.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government struck a deal with Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged on Oct. 13, calling for an expansion of elderly people’s home delivery businesses, now in operation in 12 automotive ward districts, to the whole metropolis.

SMG plans to consult with 30 large-sized construction companies in Seoul on a plan to create joint work sites hiring the homeless by 2020. The metropolitan government plans to increase CCTV monitoring crews selected among the hearing-impaired persons and expand barista on-the-job training programs for physically handicapped adults. 

On Oct. 10, on the fourth leg of his journey, Mayor Park toured a poor village in Dongja-dong and met with the homeless, the elderly and baby-boomer generation adults. 

The journey is designed to lend an ear to the voices of work sites in an ear of “growth yet no employment” and youth jobless rate of more than 10 percent. Seoul City said the journey is aimed not just to increase jobs, but to enhance the quality of jobs. 

Seoul City said it plans to come up with finalized policies on creating jobs on Nov. 9 after the mayor wraps up the journey. The tour was a part of Mayor Park’s first stage, which was designed to explore ways of creating jobs for youth, women, baby-boomer generation adults, the elderly and the underprivileged. 

Park launches the second-stage of the plan Oct. 15-22 to share information on exemplary workplaces with a high potential to create jobs, and explore ways of coping with job issues.

Seoul Mayor Park works as a part-timer at E-mart’s Seongsu branch on the first leg of his one-month mission to create jobs.(Photos:SMG)