Youth Policies Are Shaped by Youth... '2020 Busan Youth Week' Held

Busan City to Host Various Online Conferences "Now Is the Time" from 22nd to 26th
Covering Health, Labor, Housing, Community, Discrimination, COVID-19, and More... Live Broadcast on YouTube

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] The ones who should establish youth policies are the youth themselves! This year’s ‘Busan Youth Week’ will be held for five days starting from the 22nd.

From the 22nd to the 26th, Busan City will host the ‘2020 Busan Youth Week,’ a time to look into the lives and changes of youth revealed by COVID-19 and to discuss a new leap forward in establishing youth policies.

The slogan for this year’s Busan Youth Week is ‘Now is the time,’ and it will be centered around an online conference.

The conference consists of a total of eight sessions, featuring local youth as well as participants from the central government, nationwide youth organizations, companies, and private organizations, creating a forum that breaks down boundaries.

With over 60 panelists participating, it is expected to be a public discussion space that broadly and deeply discusses all aspects of youth life.

‘Planned Session 1’ will be held on the 25th from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM, exploring ways to transcend ‘boundaries’ in an era rife with disparities and discrimination.

Topics include ‘Beyond the boundary between local areas and the metropolitan area,’ ‘The massive unfairness of so-called local universities (jijapdae),’ and ‘Imagining a world beyond gender binary.’

‘Planned Session 2’ will take place on the 26th from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM, seeking ways to turn the COVID-19 crisis faced by youth into an opportunity.

It will also question things that have been taken for granted from the youth’s perspective, such as whether social distancing and self-quarantine are feasible for everyone, and what the meaning of school is now that online classes have become routine.

‘Planned Session 3’ will be held on the 26th from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM, evaluating Busan City’s policies from the youth’s viewpoint two years after the establishment of the Basic Youth Plan, and discussing future policy directions.

Based on a survey conducted from the 11th to the 15th with 432 local youth aged 18 to 34, the situation will be diagnosed and policies discussed.

The ‘Autonomous Sessions’ are prepared with five diverse themes. The ‘Mental Health’ session, held on the 22nd from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM, reveals stories youth have not been able to share, like opening a diary. The ‘Local Community’ session on the 23rd from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM will screen the documentary film ‘Youth Graduation Essay’ and discuss local youth and community.

Other sessions include ‘Labor,’ highlighting youth labor conditions (24th from 7:30 PM to 9:00 PM), ‘Social Contribution,’ discussing collaboration between youth and the community (25th from 5:00 PM to 6:30 PM), and ‘Housing,’ addressing youth housing issues (26th from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM).

As a side event, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will host ‘Youth Lab ? The Region We Make, The Future We Make’ on the 24th from 2:00 PM to 6:00 PM.

All events can be watched live on the Youth Week YouTube channel and the internet broadcast Bada TV. More information is available on the Facebook page ‘Busan Youth Week,’ the Instagram account ‘2020BusanYouthWeek,’ and the Busan City youth policy platform.

Byun Sung-wan, Acting Mayor of Busan, said, “This year is a meaningful year as the Basic Youth Act was enacted last August and the third Saturday of September was designated as Youth Day.” He added, “I hope Youth Week will be a place to share and exchange diverse ideas, and we will strengthen support so that youth can play a central role as key agents in the local community.”

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