Busan Launches Comprehensive Chuseok Measures: “Stronger Support for Livelihoods, Thorough Safety Measures”

[Financial News] Busan Metropolitan City Government announced on the 17th that it would implement comprehensive measures to ensure the safety and convenience of residents and visitors returning to their hometowns during the Chuseok holiday.
The measures cover seven areas and include plans to promote spending through Dongbaekjeon, operate a 24-hour emergency medical system, and waive tolls on paid roads.
From the 24th through the 27th, a comprehensive situation room will operate to prevent various disasters, incidents, and accidents. A total of 13,164 personnel from the city, 16 districts and counties, and the fire service will be deployed across eight response teams covering administration, disaster prevention, public health, transportation, the environment, forest fires, water supply, and firefighting.
Safety inspections will be conducted at 533 multi-use buildings, 10 large-scale events and festivals, and 1,218 daycare centers to prevent accidents in advance. A special forest-fire prevention headquarters will also operate.
The city will also strengthen its emergency medical and disease-control response systems. During the Chuseok holiday, 749 hospitals and clinics and 1,455 pharmacies will remain open.
Thirty-eight emergency medical institutions, including regional emergency medical centers Dong-A University Hospital and Haeundae Paik Hospital, will operate around the clock as usual throughout the holiday. Public health centers will also provide medical consultations and prescriptions.
Nine Moonlight Children’s Hospitals and four pediatric institutions in medically underserved areas will provide nighttime and holiday care.
To protect high-risk mothers and newborns, the city will maintain intensive care and a 24-hour emergency response system by linking two regional maternal and child medical centers with obstetric institutions across the city.
Information on hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies open during the holiday will be available through the Health and Welfare Counseling Center, the 119 Comprehensive Situation Room, and emergency-care situation rooms at district and county public health centers.
The city also announced measures to stabilize the local economy and stimulate consumption. These include a Chuseok Dongbaekjeon spending-boom event, in which 22,000 residents who spend at least 100,000 won will be selected by lottery to receive coupons worth 5,000 won; a temporary increase in the Dongbaekjeon cashback rate to 15%; a refund event for Onnuri Gift Certificates at traditional markets; and policy financing support for small business owners and small and medium-sized enterprises.
To promote warm, community-wide welfare, the city will provide holiday consolation payments to 27,000 households of elderly people living alone and support joint ancestral-rite tables at facilities for homeless people.
To facilitate travel for people returning to and from their hometowns, the city will increase the daily number of express and intercity bus and train services and passenger capacity by 200 trips and 15,407 passengers, respectively, compared with normal levels. It will also waive tolls for four days during the Chuseok holiday on eight paid roads in the city, including Gwangan Bridge, Geoga-daero, Sujeongsan Tunnel, Sanseong Tunnel, Cheonma Tunnel, Eulsukdo Bridge, Busan Harbor Bridge, and the Mandeok–Centum Urban Expressway.
Museums and art galleries will offer cultural and exhibition programs so residents can enjoy cultural activities during the holiday. Nighttime tourism programs, including special openings of DOMOHEON, dinner cruises, and balcony music shows, will also be available.
For everyday convenience, the city plans to respond quickly to residents’ needs by intensively managing living-environment facilities, including waste-treatment facilities, operating a water-supply situation room, and conducting advance inspections of waterworks facilities to ensure a stable supply of tap water.
The city will also operate a Chuseok holiday living-information website, allowing residents to check medical, safety, transportation, tourism, and environmental information in one place.
A city official said, "We will do our utmost to implement the comprehensive holiday measures without a hitch so that residents and those returning to their hometowns after a long time can enjoy a safe and happy Chuseok without inconvenience."
[email protected] Reporter Kwon Byeong-seok Reporter