1. [Illegal intermediation Control]
Gyeonggi province and relevant cities will take intensive control over the Yellow sea free economic zones to stabilize real estate transactions.
Gyeonggi announced that real estate transactions among intermediation agencies in Pyeongtaek and Hwaseong, the two cities which were selected as part of the Yellow sea free economic zone, would be checked for illegal intermediation acts.
This checkup will continue from January 7 through the 31 in Pyeongtaek harbor, in the Poseung, Pyeongtaek area and 20 villages near the Hyangnam area of Hwaseong.
Guidance teams will intensively check for speculation in real estate such as the lending of certificates of intermediation agencies, illegal intermediations, and false returns on market prices.

We had to do this because the demand in expectation of development will increase rapidly.

Agencies exposed of illegal acts during this check will face strict punishment including license revocation and business suspension.
Agencies exposed of duplicate contracts and check evasions will be especially supervised by the National Tax Service.

2. [Weekends in the country side]
Gyeonggi province announced that it will expand rural community hands-on villages in line with the increasing amount of city residents’newfound leisure time due to the recent change in work schedules to a 5 day workweek.
It is scheduled to build 20 more hands-on villages such as weekend farms and milk schools to foster Gyeonggi province’s rural tourist industry.
First, ten Green Farm hands-on lodging villages will be added to the current twenty. Moreover, there will be two more slow food villages where people could both taste food and culture.
Gyeonggi province will fund each village with 200,000 dollars and will install facilities and equipment to process traditional foods.
There will be five more Kleingartens or Allotment Gardens, the Villa-like weekend farms were introduced last year to Yangpyeong and Yeoncheon, because they were popular among Gyeonggi residents.
There would also be various milk schools for kids to experience dairy farming.

3. [Emergency rescue with a cell phone]
Cell phone video service for emergency rescues will be provided. It is seen to be useful when emergencies occur all of a sudden.
Gyeonggi Fire Headquarters clarified different strategies to be used for different emergencies through cell phone videos and made it public through its web site.
There will be 6 different mobile emergency procedures including how to help a choking adult and those with serious burns. Anyone who uses KTF, SKT, and LGT can download these procedures to their cell phones.
It is made into different sizes making it compatible for different kinds of Cell phones.
Images give thorough explanations so that people know what to do in case of an emergency and what to do until the ambulance arrives or until they bring the patient to the hospital.
Since the initial measures are crucial during emergencies the images would be a great help.

4. [A Computer Wash?]
Did you ever think of washing your computer with water? One company made this possible.
This is the inner part of a computer. The dust is washed off by the water sprayed on top.
The computer has been kept clean by spraying water-seeming liquid into the innards even while running.
What is this liquid? Actually, it is not water. It is a chemical ingredient called ‘BTS-77’which was made by a company in Gyeonggi.

When using electronic equipment short circuits can occur. When dust attaches to them damage is impacted to the equipment.

This product is made of an ingredient from tangerines; not only it does not conduct electricity, but it’s also non-toxic and does not affect human health; it even received an environment-friendly-mark for the first time in Korea’s cleanser category.
This company is planning on introducing this product to an overseas market and foreseeing annual revenue of one-billion dollars.

Though we also have serious problems with yellow sand blowing in from the West, the original source of the dust, China, has even bigger problems with dust. Therefore we are planning on tackling the Chinese market.

We take great pride that our company from Gyeonggi achieved something once thought to be impossible by simply paying attention to the small things around us.

5. [Transit Cards Recharged on Buses]
There is something you will soon be able to see from the buses in Gyeonggi province: an unmanned transit card recharger.
This is an unmanned bus card recharger installed on the bus. Anyone can use it by simply placing the card on the top of the charger and inputting a sum of money.
For the convenience of those who live in rural areas where there are few
places to recharge the transit card, the province decided to introduce an unmanned recharger on the bus and finished sample testing.

There are 3373 places where you can recharge transit cards. However, they are mainly situated in areas around bus and subway stations. People complain about the lack of transit card recharger.

The recharger will be situated in 1500 buses in thirteen different districts including Hwaseong and Yeoju by the end of this month.
Users of these buses were delighted about this solution.

It is both fun to charge them myself and convenient since I won’t have to look for places to charge my card.

In addition, Gyeonggi province is planning on unifying a three-card system to be used in Korea.
Where only one kind of card was able to be charged all three cards will be able to be charged by the second half of this year.

6. [Grand bridge of Ilsan opens]
Ilsan bridge, which connects Goyang to Gimpo city, opened for traffic on January 10.
230-million dollars were invested with private capital and it took 4 years and 4 months to finish.
Through the Ilsan Bridge, Gangwha and Gimpo could be approached directly from Goyang and Paju; it is a two way, 6-lane bridge which is 1.84km long and it connects Isan Po IC of Goyang city and Geol Po IC of Gimpo city.
It takes less than two minutes now to come and go between the two places; traffic problems in the North-western part of Gyeonggi province will subside and transportation will become easier.
Since the local road number 98, which connects to the Geol Po IC of Gimpo, has not been completed, passage across the Ilsan Bridge will be toll free until this April.
Though the toll was fixed at one-dollar in a 2002 agreement, it seems that it will be raised to within the range of 1.28 dollars considering the rise in consumer prices.

7. [Ice Park]
When the weather is cold, many people choose to stay inside. What if there were a river displaying cool ice sculptures? One river was redesigned into an ice park for the residents.
One river in Suwon transformed its appearance into a unique place.

Along the river with blossoming ice flowers, ice sculptures such as igloos and cottages were sparsely visible.
These ice topiaries are made by spraying water on plants and structures during the winter so the water freezes on the surfaces. The sculptures will be displayed until the end of this month.

We installed them for the third year because the residents like them a lot.

It is not easy to see such picturesque scenery in the cities; it is catching the attention of residents who came to exercise. Children, especially, love to play with the ice sculptures.

It is fun being in the igloo and it’s also fun playing with the sled. I like it because the organization looks pretty

The refinements of an ice-decorated river continue through the night. The lightings in-between the sculptures light up the sculptures and show a different view from the day.
A winter river, which could have been left alone to be just plain and white, has come to be a celebrated local attraction that will create unforgettable winter memories for the residents.