– In the form of a cooperative 

The Gyeonggi Provincial Office strives to help people from low-income families find jobs, linking it with the efforts to cope with the increase in the number of senior citizens and utilize waste resources. 

The Gyeonggi Province-run Self-Rehabilitation Center opened in July 2004 is engaged in finding jobs for its members, mostly from low-income households, in cleaning, house repair and waste resource utilization activities. 

The provincial office does its best to help the members find jobs provided by the central government-run social welfare programs and purchase everyday necessities at discounted prices, in addition to providing educational sessions and consulting. Such are part of the efforts to enhance the welfare for less privileged people of the society. 

Comwin Corp. in Ansan is known to have set example for other cooperative-type rehabilitation centers in the province to follow. It collects used-PCs, telecom equipment, cellular phones or audio equipment and sorts their recyclable parts out to sell them as a way to enhance the income level of its members. The 29-employee organization posted net profit of more than 60 million won out of 800 million won in sales by collecting and disposing of used computer systems at schools, etc in 2004, for example. Thus, a member gets a monthly income of 1.2 million won on average. 

It is also engaged in social contribution activities. By the end of 2004, it provided a total of used 1,028 computers to low-income families and welfare organizations. The Comwin representative said, “We expect to garner more than 3.1 billion in sales this year and export about 50,000 recycled computers to China and Southeast Asia.” By any standards, that is an impressive performance under the circumstance in which the nation’s overall electronics industry is experiencing overriding difficulty. 

In the province, a total of 44 cooperative-type organizations similar to Comwin are operating with a total of 611 members. A provincial government official said, “Their income stands at 800,000 to one million won. Though not a very large amount, it helps the members lay the basis for self-rehabilitation and contribute to the idea of realization of a productive society.” 

The provincial government plans to expand the program to areas, such as recycling of waste resources, house repair, nursing and cleaning, in which more than one thousand people from low-income families can be engaged in.