Gyeonggi Province Opens One-Stop Center for Common Citizen Financial Welfare Support

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hoon] The 'Gyeonggi Province Common Citizen Financial Welfare Support Center One-Stop Center,' which performs debt adjustment, small loans, and welfare service linkage all at once to help financially troubled groups recover credit, held its opening ceremony on the 10th and began full-scale operations.

The opening ceremony held at the Northern Center of Gyeonggi Welfare Foundation in Uijeongbu was attended by Yi Han-gyu, Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province Administration, Bang Jae-yul, Chairman of the Gyeonggi Provincial Council's Health and Welfare Committee, Yi Young-ju, Member of the Council's Health and Welfare Committee, O Suk-hee, Full-time Director of IBK Micro Finance, Hwang Beom-soon, Vice Mayor of Uijeongbu, Jin Seok-beom, President of Gyeonggi Welfare Foundation, Yi Byeong-woo, Director of Gyeonggi Province's Welfare Department, and others.

Located at the Northern Center of Gyeonggi Welfare Foundation, the Common Citizen Financial Welfare Support Center One-Stop Center is an integrated center where residents can receive not only financial counseling such as debt adjustment and financial consulting previously provided by the existing Common Citizen Financial Welfare Support Center, but also legal and job counseling, small loan services, illegal private lending damage relief, and welfare service linkage all in one place.

The province recruited legal counselors and specialists in illegal private lending damage relief, and Gyeonggi Job Creation Foundation and IBK Micro Finance dispatched job counselors and small loan officers.

The province also coordinated with Korea Social Security Information Service to establish the Happy e-um system (social security information system) and prepared to enable immediate welfare linkage through city and county community centers.

Additionally, a task force was organized to conduct integrated case management among cooperating agencies at least once a month. The policy is to research and analyze complex cases difficult to process immediately at the One-Stop Center and propose solutions.

In the second half of this year, four regional centers will be additionally established, and 3-4 professional counselors and separate counseling spaces will be secured to provide high-quality integrated financial and welfare services.

Yi Han-gyu, Vice Governor of Gyeonggi Province Administration, stated, "Through the One-Stop Center, I hope to provide comprehensive services including welfare, employment, and housing in addition to debt adjustment to provincial residents facing financial and welfare crises, opening opportunities for economic self-reliance," and added, "We will actively communicate and cooperate so that finance can fulfill more important public functions such as sound financial circulation."

Any provincial resident in need of financial counseling can receive online, phone, or in-person counseling. Applications can be made through the website (http://g-counseling.gcgf.or.kr) or the main number 1899-6014 to receive counseling.