[Hwaseong Police Station Inauguration]

Until now Hwaseong fell under the jurisdiction of the police station at Osan. Hwaseong itself did not have a police station. The residents have long been hoping for a police station near their homes.

Although a series of vicious crimes gave Hwaseong a bad rap as a high crime city, there was no police station present in the past. But on April 4th, the long-awaited police station opened in Hwaseong.

Rapid increase in population and industry\’s development made it tough to meet the needs of our security demands. To resolve such security problems, we opened the West Hwaseong police station today without delay. The new police station will start operations in 13 container boxes until the station construction is finished by June,

The West Hwaseong police station will have jurisdiction over the west part of Hwaseong such as Namyang and Bodam, and the existing Hwaseong police station will be renamed the East Hwaseong police station and will work on security in the east part of Hwaseong.

A police station is vital in maintaining public peace. There is no point of discussing over such issue if the police station does not exist. No matter what people say, to maintain security, there should be a police station, there should be police officers to guard against disturbances.

Police stations situated in this city of 390,000 at last! Since the security has been intensified, the anxiety and fear residents once had may subside little.

[Glow in the dark!]

Everyone must have experienced at least once not being able to recognize an approaching bus\’s number at night. Well, from now on this inconvenience will be mitigated because displays that are recognizable regardless of night and day are to be installed.

There is one bus that looks peculiar among all the buses arriving at the bus stop. It is a bus with an orange LED display that shows bus number and destination.

General buses can’t be seen when it is dark. But this one is lighted on so it is easy to see. Gyeonggi province announced that it would expand the installation of these new displays instead of existing number plates for the convenience of the Gyeonggi residents.

We will install LED displays on about 2500 intra-city buses. The plan is to install LED displays in 68% of all intra-city buses. This will be a convenience for Gyeonggi residents.

The LED shines orange during the day and glows green when it is dark. Therefore it is foreseen that people will recognize buses more easily and enjoy the convenience.

[Artist that writes poems]

There is a disabled woman who is showing some talent as a poet. She was awarded the Gyeonggi Overcoming Disability Award of the year. Hu-gyeong Han, who says that she is happiest when she is working on her art work, once again holds a pencil and a sketchbook with her art.

Han has been nominated as brain-afflicted first rate disabled after having an apoplexy in 1993. At first there were times when she wanted to stop living life. But now painting, which she encountered in part of her rehabilitation, is her hope.

It was just a way to speak to myself. I never knew it would bring me such accomplishment.

Han\’s spirit that helped her over the obstacles is now a beacon of hope for other disabled persons. Now she recognizes that she is a much needed member of society.

The number of paintings drawn by Han is about 50 in total. She is also a poet who portrayed the pain and the process taken to overcome her disability through her poems in four anthologies.

No matter what situation you are in, I think it is important to challenge yourself.

Now, Han does not see her self as disabled thanks to her intentions of wanting to help other disabled persons.

[New Features]

The House of Sharing at Gwangju, Gyeonggi, is where comfort women who were once forced to become sex-slaves during World War Ⅱ reside. The House of sharing and the Historical Museum of sexual slavery by the Japanese military will be reconstructed with funds by the government and a local autonomous entity.

The House of Sharing is the only welfare center in Korea for the former comfort women forced into slavery by the Japanese military. However, on the inside, it is just a nongovernmental institution for seniors. It seriously lacked convenient facilities for the old ladies to use.

However, last year, the facility was designated as a special sanitarium and will have various security establishments, care units, and other convenience facilities. The museum that is connected with the House of sharing will also see some changes.

We are expecting various experimental programs along with existing qualities. The Historical Museum of sexual slavery by the Japanese military will be a place that tells of the infringement on the human rights of comfort women by the Japanese army.

[Three more new towns]

Anyang and Uijeongbu have been additionally appointed as new towns. Accordingly, new town appointed zones are expanded to 13 in 8 different cities.

This is near Anyang district in Anyang city where old houses are densely aggregated. This area will be developed into a large scale apartment complex. The reason for this development plan is that Gyeonggi had assigned this area the Anyang Manan zone and recognized it as an arbitration expenses promotion zone along with Geumui and Ganeung both of Uijeongbu.

The Manan area in Anyang city will have about 24000 apartment units built over 1,776,000㎡. In addition, the Geumui and Ganeung areas of Uijeongbu will see the construction of 25,000 households and would be transformed into mini-new towns.

If the development plan is devised by the next half of the year, the redevelopment will commence from 2010.
With the additional areas designated New towns this time, the expenses promotion zones total 13 places. The province which is promoting new town construction projects to solve its antiquated urban centers is planning to add 8 more zones in six cities including Namyangju, Siheung, Gunpo, and Osan.

[Energy Saving]

While international oil prices do not seem to be decreasing, Gyeonggi province started a campaign to use energy more efficiently. Measures to counter high oil prices, global warming, and greenhouse gases are so urgent now the saving of energy is an all-important issue.

Gyeonggi province decided to promote the \’2008 Energy usage rationalization plan\’ to increase efficiency and save energy.

The province will first encourage energy savings in public institutions and slowly create an atmosphere leading to nationwide energy savings. The strategy is to systemize the once-a-week vehicle substitution system, expand the supply of new and renewable energy and encourage the use of public transportation.

Environmentally friendly cars will be supplied to 6 districts and cities in Suwon. LED traffic lights will also be replacing many of the existing traffic lights.

[Watch out for Free Navigation!]

Anything free must be a tempting offer. However, some fraudulent companies are deceiving people with gratuitous acts. They say they offer a free navigation system replacement, but their intentions are quite malevolent.

Navigation systems have become a staple for many drivers. Recently, there have been many cases of consumers who were defrauded by people saying they will offer a free navigation system.

They said it is a free replacement but the payment was claimed: $4,083

This resulted from the buyers\’ bewilderment with free services. They added additional articles that were not included in the contract and demanded large sums of money for the purchase.

The total number of cases that have been reported to the Gyeonggi customer information center total 37, from January.

The merchandising enterprises are marketing door-to-door and by telemarketing. They tell the customers that everything is free, but after the installation, they reject cancellation or demands extreme penal sums.

Consumers should be cautious not to be dazed by fraudulent marketing tricks.