The committee is Seodaemun's principal child-participation body, giving young residents a platform to voice opinions on policies and local environments that affect them and to influence meaningful change.
This year's committee comprises 40 children, ages 10 to 13, who live or attend school in the district. They will conduct monitoring and propose policy recommendations through the end of the year.
Based on the interests and opinions the children themselves raised, the committee selected \"AI in everyday life and children's rights\" as its theme for the year.
The committee will evaluate whether AI systems deliver biased information or infringe on children's personal data, and it will work to ensure that children's right to protection and their right to appropriate use of information are safeguarded in an AI-driven world.
Beyond awarding appointment certificates to instill pride in the child committee members, the ceremony included hands-on programs such as an \"AI-Generated Content Identification Game,\" in which children and their guardians practiced distinguishing real from fake content.
At the Growth Tree performance, attended by all child committee members, participants affixed stickers expressing their pledges and hopes for children's rights to a tree and pledged, \"We will build a Seodaemun where children are happy\" together.
The final activity, \"Create Your Own AI Avatar Character,\" also drew strong enthusiasm.
Going forward, the child committee members will use regular meetings and field monitoring to explore how AI technologies intersect with children's rights, gather innovative ideas to create a safer and more beneficial digital environment, and submit those proposals directly to the district government.
Mayor Lee Seong-heon said, \"We will actively review the creative and practical suggestions the child committee members put forward to advance children's rights in AI environments, and we will do our best to reflect them in district policy.\"
