Yudonggyun, Mayor of Mapo District, "Young People... Have Hope!"... Youth Policy Announcement

District Mayor Yu Introduces Mapo Youth Policies at '2020 1st Korea Urban Forum' on 25th... 'Mapo-style Youth Job Project', Community Building, Housing Support... Gaining Youth Sympathy... District Mayor Yu Dong-gyun Pledges to Create a City Where Youth Are Happy

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo District, is presenting Mapo District's youth policy at the '2020 1st Korea Urban Forum'.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] “The term 'Neet' refers to young people who neither work nor have the will to work. However, a society that breaks the will of young people and makes them give up has no hope and no future. Youth policies must start from this very concern.”

On the 25th, Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo District, who participated in the ‘2020 1st Korea Urban Forum,’ opened the second session titled ‘Meeting New Hope for Youth’ with these words.

The sparkling eyes of about 100 young people sitting around a circular table with transparent partitions were focused on Mayor Yoo, who was presenting Mapo District’s youth policies and best practices on stage.

Since the launch of the 7th local government, Mayor Yoo has always reflected the vivid voices of young people and strived to operate the district administration without alienating youth. This day was an opportunity to share the results of those efforts with academia, experts, other local governments, and the youth who are the subjects of the policies.

The first topic was the ‘Mapo-type Youth Job Support Policy,’ a job creation model reflecting regional characteristics. Last year, the district launched the ‘Font Development Youth Job Project,’ the first of its kind nationwide, linking font development with youth employment, achieving remarkable results with all participants successfully finding jobs or starting businesses.

Building on this, this year the district is promoting a project to nurture young talent in three key local industries centered around Sangam DMC and the Hongdae area: the 4th industry (IT), broadcasting, and design.

Mayor Yoo also introduced various district projects aimed at activating youth participation in policy-making based on the belief that “young people know their own problems.” The ‘Mapo Youth Network,’ consisting of 25 youth network members, has become a public forum for discovering youth policies. They submitted five policy proposals to Seoul City, all of which were selected, securing a budget of 250 million KRW, resulting in the actual policy implementation of youth ideas.

Additionally, the district is actively supporting youth participation in district administration by promoting youth communities such as youth hope schools and youth clubs.

These series of projects align with Mayor Yoo’s philosophy of district administration that “local governments, which understand their regions best, must carefully and consistently implement youth job policies reflecting regional characteristics,” and his belief that “jobs are the best welfare.”

Mayor Yoo emphasized that housing issues must be resolved for young people to realize their dreams and passions, and revealed the district’s efforts to expand safe housing spaces for youth.

The district plans to supply 222 public rental housing units by constructing transit-oriented youth housing in Seogyo-dong and Changcheon-dong areas in close collaboration with Seoul City (SH Corporation).

Furthermore, the district includes youth as tenants in the Mapo-type housing welfare system ‘MH Mapo Housing,’ and is implementing youth monthly rent support and the Youth Hope Savings Account project, making meticulous efforts to ensure housing stability and practical independence for young people.

Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun quoted American educator Suellen Freed’s words, “Trying and failing is not a sin. The only sin is not trying,” and stated his vision: “We will create an atmosphere where young people can challenge fearlessly and support this institutionally to build ‘Mapo, a city where youth are happy.’”

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