President Moon Thanks Business Community for Creating Youth Jobs

Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong's First Meeting Since August... Heads of 6 Companies Participating in 'Youth Hope ON'

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] On the 27th, President Moon Jae-in held a luncheon meeting at the Blue House with heads of major corporations including Samsung Electronics Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong, expressing gratitude for their efforts in creating jobs for the youth.

The meeting between President Moon and Vice Chairman Lee was the first since Lee's release on parole on August 13.

In addition to Vice Chairman Lee, the luncheon at the Blue House was attended by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Eui-sun, SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, LG Group Chairman Koo Kwang-mo, POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo, and KT CEO Koo Hyun-mo. The Blue House was represented by Chief Secretary Yoo Young-min, Policy Chief Lee Ho-seung, Senior Secretary for Political Affairs Lee Cheol-hee, and Senior Secretary for Economic Affairs Park Won-joo.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

This meeting was organized to express appreciation to companies that pledged to create youth jobs through the ‘Youth Hope ON (溫·On-Going)’ project.

It also conveyed gratitude for the Korean economy’s solid performance, including the record-high annual export volume amid the COVID-19 situation. This is why the Blue House arranged a meeting with major corporate leaders during the last week of December, wrapping up the year.

During the meeting, broad discussions were held on key economic issues including employment. Time was allocated for Vice Chairman Lee, Chairman Chung, Chairman Chey, and Chairman Koo to share their views on economic matters in that order.

This was the first time in six months since June 2 that President Moon met with major business leaders, following a luncheon meeting with representatives from the four major groups: Samsung, Hyundai Motor, SK, and LG.

Meanwhile, Youth Hope ON is a ‘Special Youth Measures’ plan jointly established by 18 government ministries in August. It is a public-private cooperation project where companies directly train and hire the talent they need, and the government supports training costs.

KT and Samsung participated on September 7 and 14, LG and SK on October 21 and 25, and POSCO and Hyundai Motor on November 10 and 22, respectively.

Shin Hye-hyun, Deputy Spokesperson of the Blue House, explained, "The six companies have pledged to create a total of 179,000 jobs over three years and provide educational and training opportunities for youth."

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