문대통령, 구산동 도서관 마을 방문, '생활형 SOC로 국민들 삶의 질 높일 것'
President Moon Jae-in was at a local library on Tuesday to promote the idea of increasing social overhead capital in projects closely related to people's everyday lives.
It's something that has been clearly reflected in the government's 2019 budget proposal.
Hwang Hojun has our top story. Traditionally, social overhead capital, or SOC, refers to heavy infrastructure like highways, airports and railways.
But President Moon vowed Tuesday to focus more on SOC related to people's everyday lives,... for example, community centers, neighborhood sports facilities,... and libraries, like Gusan-dong Library Village in Seoul.
"The Gusan-dong Library Village is a shining model of the SOC that the Korean government is promoting. It is a model of community participation and cooperation led by local residents and supported by local governments."
President Moon visited the library on Tuesday afternoon; it was built through renovating existing multiplex and detached homes to shorten construction time and lower costs.
According to President Moon, the library is a great example of successful urban regeneration, not only revitalizing the village but, with a co-op set up for its management, also creating quality jobs for local residents.
He said the government is planning to increase such projects to improve people's quality of life.
It's an investment for the people and for the region. It will not only improve the people's daily lives but will develop the area and create more jobs, effectively killing three birds with one stone.
As a matter of fact, the central government’s SOC development budget for next year is estimated around 7.8 billion U.S. dollars, up 50 percent from this year’s total of 5.2 billion.
Combine that with investments from local governments, and the budget will amount to nearly 11 billion U.S. dollars.
President Moon pledged that the government's plan to improve people's quality of life won't be a one-off investment. Rather, he will urge the government to continuously carry out mid- to long-term plans to make sure there's enough SOC in place to support people's livelihoods.
Hwang Hojun, Arirang News.
