Greetings, everyone, and thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. I’m Don Valiant and this is the news from Gyeonggi Province this week. Gyeonggi Designates ‘Intensive Fine Dust Control Zones’ in Seongnam City (0203) Gyeonggi Province recently designated 7 areas in Seongnam (성남) City as Intensive Fine Dust Control Zones that will receive customized provincial support These zones were selected from among areas with large concentrations of vulnerable facilities – such as childcare centers and kindergartens – and in which the average annual fine dust and ultra-fine dust levels are greater than 50 micrograms and 15 micrograms, respectively. Provincial support in these zones will include the establishment of fine dust shelters and the installation of ventilation systems. ◇ Gyeonggi Pursues Hyper-connected AI Healthcare Platform Development (0201) On January 29, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명), Gwangju (광주) City Mayor Lee Yong-seop (이용섭), and Busan City Assistant Mayor for Employment and Economy Kim Yun-il (김윤일) participated in a ceremony for the launch of the joint Artificial Intelligence Healthcare Platform Development Project. This initiative has been selected as an area wide joint project for the development of a hyper-connected platform. The objective of this project to foster unicorn enterprises and industry foundations of global caliber in the artificial intelligence healthcare field. ◇   Gyeonggi Launches Resting Facility Improvement Program for Vulnerable Workers (0202) Gyeonggi Province recently announced plans to launch a resting facility improvement project for workers at labor-intensive workplaces such as social welfare facilities, industrial complexes and hospitals. The province will receive applications until March 2 and select a total of 20 organizations and enterprises as support recipients. The province has earmarked KRW 300 million for this initiative. Detailed information regarding applications is available from the related Gyeonggi websites. ◇ Gyeonggi Plans to Develop Parking Lots for 5,000+ Vehicles Utilizing Odd Spaces (0129) Gyeonggi Province plans to create approximately 5,000 more parking spaces this year so as to alleviate parking difficulties in old residential and commercial areas. In addition to the more than 1,700 parking spaces created last year, these new spaces will be used for public parking through the provision of support for the utilization of odd spaces and for the purchase of old residences. The province is also considering the leasing of private parking lots for public use. ◇ Gyeonggi Announces Diverse Initiatives to Address Unfairness in Franchising (0204-1) At a meeting on unfair franchise industry practices held on February 3, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명) stated that the province will take necessary actions such as formal requests for inquiries including criminal investigations. Governor Lee stated that ensuring fair competition is very important and that fairness is at the core of the market economy. He also said that current related regulations themselves lack fairness and even such skewed regulations do not seem to be properly observed in the private sector. To address such issues, the province plans to investigate unfair practices affecting the self-employed, and will also distribute guidelines to prevent unfair franchise termination, propose the amendment of related laws, and implement support programs for small businesses. ◇   Gyeonggi Announces Animal Protection and Welfare Policies for 2021 (0203-1) Gyeonggi Province has been endeavoring to create a society in which humans and animals coexist through diverse animal welfare policies such as the promotion of homeless animal adoption, the introduction of ‘pet tickets’ and the establishment of the Animal Protection Division. During a press conference on February 3, Gyeonggi Province Livestock and Forestry Bureau Director General Kim Seong-sik (김성식) announced animal protection and welfare policies for this year. These policies include 33 projects for which the province has allocated KRW 30.6 billion. Following the announcement, Director General Kim stated that these policies comprise part of the current provincial administration’s animal welfare policy package, which focuses on respecting lives in line with growing demand for such policies. ◇ Gyeonggi Uncovers Online Used Car Frauds Through Big Data Monitoring (0201-1) Last year, Gyeonggi Province uncovered a number of used vehicle websites that listed fake items for sale and prosecuted the operators. The province has discovered more such sites this year using big data compiled from millions of transactions. During a press conference held on February 1, Gyeonggi Province Fairness Bureau Director General Kim Ji-ye (김지예) announced that the province has been using big data to monitor used vehicle transactions and uncovered 74 violations by 34 used vehicle sites. He went on to say that the province will press criminal charges against 9 sites that advertised fake items. Director General Kim also stated that, although the number of websites listing fake items for sale has decreased after last year’s crackdown, some still remain. He offered assurances that the province will create a fair used car market through continuous monitoring. ◇ Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. We look forward to seeing you again next week.