hankyoreh

By Park Ki-yong, staff reporter

Civic groups working together and sharing thoughts on local issues in Seoul's Yeongdeungpo district launched the "Yeongdeungpo Community Network" or "Maeul-net" on Sept. 26 at the Mullae-dong Youth Center. Around 30 people came together from the Urban Agriculture Network, Korean Contingent Workers's Center (Working Voice), Seorosallim Consumer Cooperative, and YDP Urban Industrial Mission.

They had originally come in contact through the "Thursday Dinner Meeting", which was formed three years ago to inspire lively debate over dinner. After an incident in which a boy riding on a bicycle was hit by a Lotte Mart delivery truck in Yeongdeungpo in July 2010, they convened 20 times for discussions on various local issues and began preparing to transform the meeting into a community network from the end of last year.

The Maeul-net systems, a communicative network of local civic groups, are now being launched in most of Seoul's regions, including Yangcheon and Jongno districts.

The Seoul Metropolitan government opened the Seoul Comprehensive Community Support Center (Maeul Center)" at a building that formerly housed the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC), in Bulgwang, Eunpyeong district on Sept. 11. This reflects Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's intention to realize his election pledge of â