'Cheongnyeon Maeul' Expanded to 12 Locations This Year... Online Recruitment Briefing on the 5th

Support for Youth Settlement in Population Declining Areas: University Credit Linkage and Startup Support

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The number of 'Youth Villages' supporting young people who seek new opportunities and settle in local areas will expand to 12 locations this year.

On the 4th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it finalized the '2021 Youth Village Creation Contest Plan' and will hold the 'Youth Village Home Corner Briefing Session' at 3 p.m. on the 5th. The Youth Village project, which started in 2018 and is currently operating in three locations, supports local settlement by providing residential and startup spaces to prevent youth outflow and attract urban youth. In 2018, Mokpo City in Jeollanam-do operated 'Gwaenchana Village,' in 2019, Seocheon County in Chungcheongnam-do operated 'Life Skills School,' and in 2020, Mungyeong City in Gyeongsangbuk-do operated 'Moonlight Exploration Team.'

The Ministry explained that after operating Youth Villages for three years and reflecting on the results, the system has been improved, and this year the number of locations will be expanded to 12. Young people participating in Youth Villages remodel idle local spaces into community and startup spaces, and seek various ways to coexist with the region by transforming traditional industries and local specialties into excellent startup items through their ideas and passion, thereby settling down in the area.

Especially from this year, through startup education and credit recognition linked with local universities, the ministry plans to actively encourage not only more urban youth to make U-turns, J-turns, and I-turns* but also young people residing in the region to find various opportunities and settle locally. Additionally, in accordance with the '1st Basic Plan for Youth Policy (joint by related ministries, December 2020),' the ministry plans to collaborate with related ministries such as the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, and the Ministry of SMEs and Startups to expand youth participation opportunities and choices.

Youth organizations wishing to apply for the Youth Village project can check the announcement posted on the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s website and submit their project plans to the relevant local government by the 26th. After document screening, on-site inspection, and presentation evaluation, operating organizations will be selected in April and will receive 500 million KRW per location.

In local governments where population extinction is accelerating, if selected for the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s Youth Village project, they can receive additional budgets as well as support for local resources. Regarding this, the briefing session on the 5th will be broadcast live on the Ministry’s YouTube channel. The session will be hosted by Joo Geung-jeong, a YouTube creator born in 1990, and will include case presentations detailing the process of realizing the dreams of Youth Villages.

The 12 Youth Villages selected through this contest will announce their start at a joint launching ceremony in April and begin full-scale operations from May. Lee Jae-young, Vice Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, “More than 70,000 young people in their 20s leave local areas for the metropolitan area every year. We will provide generous support to young people who will make the region more enjoyable and livable, leading sustainable development of the region.”

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