Choi Kyung-hwan, Leader of the Alternative New Party, Holds On-site Policy Meeting with Youth

Promise to Establish a Tentative 'Special Committee for Youth from Impoverished Generations' with Direct Participation of Young People

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yukbong] Choi Kyunghwan, leader of the Alternative New Party, announced on the 20th that he held an on-site policy meeting with young people in Gwangju under the theme "We will listen to the voices of youth" to understand the essence of youth issues and directly hear the voices of the younger generation.

This on-site meeting with young people was attended by Alternative New Party lawmakers Cheon Jeongbae (Seogu-eul) and Jang Byeongwan (Dongnam-gap), preliminary candidate Kim Myeongjin (Seogu-gap), representatives and activists from six youth organizations based in Gwangju, including the 'Gwangju Youth Policy Network,' a gathering of 10 youth-related organizations, the Elephant Cooperative, the first generation-specific labor union 'Gwangju Youth Union,' and 'Dongne Zoom-in,' which creates youth culture.

In his greeting, party leader Choi Kyunghwan said, "Although youth policies are pouring out from the government and local governments, and more than 20 trillion won is invested annually in youth policies, the actual perception felt by young people remains low and negative evaluations are high," adding, "This is because the policies remain only as populist measures rather than fundamental solutions."

He continued, "The difficulties faced by young people are not limited to employment and job issues but start from all social problems such as housing problems caused by excessively high housing prices, tuition issues, and low birthrate and aging problems represented by the '9-po generation.' To solve youth problems, the perspective must be broadened to include youth life, equal opportunities, and institutional improvements."

Youth representatives attending the on-site meeting expressed various opinions such as "Living support funds that allow youth to live independently and infrastructure, rental fees, equipment costs, and planning costs necessary for startups should be supported," "An environment where young people can invest only in themselves must be created," "Support from large corporations for the technical aspects of young people with ideas," "Equality of opportunity and fairness of process are being shaken," and "We will seriously evaluate the achievements of the youth policies implemented so far, propose alternatives, and demand the formation of social discourse as a model for a new comprehensive youth plan with the power of youth."

Regarding the proposals from young people, party leader Choi Kyunghwan said, "We will ensure that the proposals of young people do not disappear like empty echoes," and added, "We will create a so-called 'Special Committee for Youth of the Impoverished Generation' to allow direct participation and activities by young people, so that the Alternative New Party can establish policy distinctiveness."

Immediately after the meeting, party leader Choi Kyunghwan visited the Gwangju Dream Bank, which provides financial counseling and management mainly for young people in welfare blind spots, together with young people to observe their actual lives and cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.