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 Helps COVID-19-affected Farmers through Sales Events (2020.04.06) With the beginning of the new school year postponed in Korea due to COVID-19, farmers who supply ingredients for school meals are having difficulties selling their products. To help these farmers, Gyeonggi Province held sales events that included special menu deals as well as drive-thru sales stands. ► Jeong Yeon-su, Green Onion Farmer, Icheon City Jeong (정현수) is extremely worried since he is unable to find buyers for the 10 tons of eco-friendly green onions he produced for school meals. ► Jeong Yeon-su, Green Onion Farmer, Icheon City “I can go to market but the prices there are too low to justify the labor and transport costs. I was relying on schools since I have no other place to turn to…” ► Sales Event at Uiwang Rest Area One of the sales events for school meal food suppliers took place at an expressway rest area at which more than 10,000 travelers stop daily. Restaurants at this rest area offered special menu deals incorporating ingredients supplied by these farmers. ► An Jong-ha, Visitor from Incheon “Rest area foods are all the same, but these menu items are different. I think they are good choices and will sell very well.” ► Drive-thru Farm Product Sale There were also sales events at drive-thru stands. These events were popular among shoppers since they offered quality farm products at low prices in hygienic environments. ► Kim Chang-seok, Visitor from Seoul “During this COVID-19 crisis when on-site shopping is not preferred, this event is good for shoppers as well as for farmers.” Last month, Gyeonggi Province held a number of events for school meal suppliers including package sales events and eco-friendly food sales events. ► Kim Chung-beom, Director General, Gyeonggi Province Agricultural & Maritime Administration Bureau “We will help farmers minimize their losses through direct sales events, processed food development and storage space preparation.” Through these efforts, Gyeonggi Province is helping farmers endure COVID-19-related difficulties.   2. Gyeonggi and 18 Local Governments Initiate Disaster-related Basic Income Payments (2020.04.08) From April 9, Gyeonggi Province began receiving applications for disaster-related basic income payments of KRW 100,000 per person. Applications for similar payments offered by 18 local governments in the province can be submitted together with the application for the Gyeonggi payment. ► Gyeonggi Provincial Government Complex (April 8) Gyeonggi Province Press Conference on Disaster-related Basic Income Payment The application procedures were explained by Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명) during a press conference. ► Applications Received from April 9 through Related Provincial Website Applications for provincial disaster-related basic income payments are initially being received from April 9 to 30 from those who choose to receive the payment in the form of Gyeonggi local currency or toward their credit card balance. ► Simultaneous Reception of Applications for Provincial and Local Payments Eighteen local governments in Gyeonggi also began receiving applications for similar payments. Applications for these local payments can be made together with the application for the provincial payment. ► Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung “Since legal procedures are still underway in a number of localities, we decided to receive provincial applications with the applications for 18 localities in which these procedures have been completed.” ► Online Applications: basicincome.gg.go.kr (April 9-30) The application process is simple. Once applicants have provided their credit card details, applications are registered upon confirmation of personal details and the entitled amounts. ► Applications for Payments with Prepaid Cards: Local Administration and Welfare Offices or NH Branches Applications for payment via prepaid cards can be submitted in person at local administration and welfare centers or NH bank branches during the period from April 20 to July 31. The received disaster-related basic income can be used immediately upon receipt of approval.   3. Gyeonggi Pursues Development of Food Delivery App to Counter Monopoly (2020.04.08-2) In Korea, the enterprise behind the Baedal Minjok (배달민족) food delivery app holds a near monopoly on food-ordering services nationwide. To counter recent changes this enterprise has made in its fee system, changes that will add to the burdens borne by restaurants, Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (이재명) revealed that he will pursue the development of a public app to provide these services. ► Korean Restaurant, Seongnam City For the past five years, Choi (최), a delivery-based restaurant owner, has been utilizing the Baedal Minjok app at a cost of approximately KRW 1.5 million per month for its advertisement and order-taking services. ► Baedal Minjok-Affiliated Delivery Restaurant Proprietor “Since we receive 90 percent of our orders through the Baedal Minjok app, we have no choice but to utilize its services despite their high fees.” The owner of this restaurant says that his business has been in the red for the past 3 months since he has paid more for Baedal Minjok app services than he earns. ► Baemin-Affiliate Korean Delivery Food Restaurant Proprietor “They informed me of their new fee system, telling me that monthly payments will increase to more than KRW 2 million. This means that, on top of the current crisis, I have to bear an increase of approximately KRW 1 million for monthly advertisement fees.” Currently, the Baedal Minjok app has a near monopoly on food delivery services in Korea. ► Delivery Food Restaurants to Be Significantly Affected by Baemin Service Fee Increase The new fee system, slated to go into effect from this month, will significantly increase the financial burdens borne by restaurants. ►Gyeonggi to Publicly Develop Delivery Service App To address the difficulties faced by restaurants, Gyeonggi Province announced plans to develop a ‘Public Delivery Service App’. ► Gyeonggi to Form Task Force and Begin App Development in April During a meeting of officials, Gyeonggi decided to begin development of this app in April and will form a task force to oversee this process. ► Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung “The role of a government is to ensure coexistence under the principles of ‘suppress the stronger, support the weaker’. Accordingly, I believe that Gyeonggi Province must do something to address this problem.” Gyeonggi Province will also pursue legislation that will limit monopolistic power while conducting tax investigations of enterprises that abuse such power.   4. AI Fulfills Human Functions in COVID-19 Facilities in Gyeonggi (2020. 04. 07-2) In Gyeonggi Province, artificial intelligence systems are fulfilling some human functions in COVID-19-related facilities, including call centers and hospitals, so as to limit the spread of the virus by minimizing personal contact. Our reporter examined the details. ► Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Icheon Hospital In this hospital, COVID-19 patients in quarantine communicate with doctors via video calls. [Sync] “Did you feel a fever when you woke up this morning?” / “No, I felt fine.” “Did the coughing or phlegm get any worse?” / “No.” During the calls, patients converse with doctors about their condition. [Sync] “I am now going to check your blood pressure, body temperature and oxygen saturation level. So, please remain still for a while.” ► Patient Vital Signs Monitored Remotely Soon, vital signs are displayed on a computer screen just outside the patient’s room. This system can also remotely analyze the condition of up to 16 patients in real time. ► Non-personal Monitoring Technology Minimizes Personal Contact During Treatment This central patient monitoring system, which is being used at intensive care units in general hospitals, eliminates the need for 3 daily personal calls by medical staff. The Icheon Hospital of the Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center adopted this system to minimize infections among medical staff. ► Park Cheol-ui, Physician, Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Icheon Hospital “Through the adoption of the central patient monitoring system, we are able to monitor patient vital signs directly and continuously while minimizing the necessity for personal contact with patients.” ► AI Call Center The Gyeonggi Call Center has also adopted AI technologies. ► Robots at AI Call Center Perform Verbal Health Checkup of Koreans Returning from Abroad Artificial intelligence is being used in the form of voice robots for COVID-19-related health checks of Koreans who have returned from abroad. [Sync] “I am going to ask a few questions now. Did you experience a fever of 37.5 degrees or higher today?” / “No.” “Did you experience a dry cough?” / “No.” Through this system, AI voice robots call patients and ask questions about fevers and respiratory symptoms according to a manual. When the answers provided indicate abnormalities, these AI voice robots direct the patients to local public health centers and inform the centers about the cases the next day. ► Oh Heung-seok, Deputy Director, Gyeonggi Province Infectious Disease Response Task Force II “With the number of Koreans returning from abroad increasing, jobs performed by public health centers were taken up by AI robots to minimize personal contact. We contracted these services for 80 lines, which is equivalent to employing 80 call center personnel.” With a prevailing belief that solutions to the COVID-19 crisis can be found through technology, a variety of related ideas are being introduced to find such solutions. Thank you for joining us for this week’s edition of GTV. We look forward to seeing you again next week.