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. 1. Gyeonggi’s Postnatal Care Support to Be Expanded Regardless of Residence Period (0923-3) From October 15, all households with newborns in Gyeonggi Province will be entitled to postnatal care support of KRW 500,000 per baby, as long as the baby was born within the past 12 months and the baby’s registered address is in the province as of its date of birth as well as the application date. Applications can be made at the same time as birth registration at local public offices without requiring separate procedures. Support will be paid in local currency after qualifications have been verified. 2. Gyeonggi Opens More Lease Protection Act Counseling Centers (0922-2) In order to minimize housing market confusion after the enactment of three lease protection-related acts, Gyeonggi Province will open counseling desks at the public service centers of the main and northern provincial government complexes. These are in addition to the existing desk at the province’s free legal counseling center. To this end, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명) signed a cooperation agreement with the Korean Bar Association, the Minbyun (민변) Lawyers for a Democratic Society and the Korea Association of Realtors, and appointed 39 counselors consisting of lawyers and realtors. Inquiries about lease protection acts can now be made by calling the Gyeonggi Province Free Legal Counseling Center as well as related desks at either of the provincial government complex public service centers.   3. Gyeonggi to Expand Sanitary Pad Voucher Supply Provincewide from Next Year (0925-2) Several years ago, a news story about an adolescent who could not afford sanitary pads surprised many members of the public. This incident led to the Korean government supplying free sanitary pad vouchers to female adolescents suffering from economic difficulties. However, fearing embarrassment over their economic status, some youths avoided receiving the vouchers. From next year, Gyeonggi Province will expand this support to all female adolescents by subsidizing additional costs for cities and counties that implement this policy. 4. Gyeonggi Lead e-Sports Industrial Promotion (0923) On September 23, Gyeonggi Province, Seongnam (성남) City, and the Korea e-Sports Association signed an agreement for the establishment of an arena exclusively for e-sports. According to this agreement, the provincial government will provide administrative and financial support for arena establishment as well as support for e-sports competition inducement and management, while Seongnam (성남) City will undertake site provision and budget attainment as well as arena management. The Korea e-Sports Association will provide consultation services as well as active support for the hosting and promotion of e-sports.   5. Gyeonggi’s “Factories in Forests” Popular as Resting Places for Workers (1001) Last year, Gyeonggi Province launched its ‘Factories in Forests’ project to promote tree planting among industrial enterprises. The province recently revealed that, as of July, nearly 63,000 trees had been planted by the 99 enterprises that joined this project. With 19,256 more trees to be planted by the end of next year, a total of more than 82,000 trees will have been planted through this project, equating to 250 percent of the number originally targeted. A provincial official also stated that, with the high popularity of the planted areas among industrial workers, there are signs that some enterprises are opting to purchase neighboring land lots for development as forest parks for employees. 6. Gyeonggi Governor: “Digital Platforms Need to be Regulated for Fair Competition” (1002) Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명) stated that, in this digital economy era, appropriate regulations for online platforms are necessary to ensure fair competition. Making this statement on September 24 during a welcoming address at a public forum on the prevention of online platform monopolies, Governor Lee also noted that the global economic order is being shifted by digital economy platforms toward a new technological revolution. Governor Lee then urged that platform and digital economies be approached through new types of endeavors and emphasized the importance of regulating such platforms, just as large distributors are regulated so as to ensure fair competition.   7.Gyeonggi Bulletin Board of Hope Offers Encouragement (0923-2) The public service center at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Complex features a “Gyeonggi Bulletin Board of Hope” which is used to display public messages. Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. We look forward to seeing you again next week.