Gyeongnam Province Youth Support to Be More 'Robust' Next Year... Including Transportation and School Meals

Ha Jongmok, Director of Planning and Coordination Office of Gyeongnam Province, is announcing the 2023 youth policy promotion direction.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] Gyeongsangnam-do announced the direction of youth policy for the next year on the 21st.

Ha Jongmok, Director of Planning and Coordination Office, said, “We will strengthen support so that the youth of Gyeongnam can feel changes in their lives.”

Gyeongnam Province has decided to provide transportation expenses for the youth, which had been consistently requested through the ‘Open Governor’s Office’.

Along with the ‘Gyeongnam-type Youth Transportation Expense Support Project,’ an annual meal voucher of a fixed amount per person will also be provided to university students in the province.

Full scholarships will be provided to all students of Gyeongnam Provincial University, and the university tuition fees for the 2023 academic year will be frozen.

The Gyeongnam Scholarship Foundation plans to provide scholarships to 250 new university entrants and 200 university students within the province.

Instead of the Gyeongnam Youth Center, which was abolished due to inefficient operation, two ‘regional youth hub spaces’ will be created, and step-by-step programs for settlement will be supported for youth coming from other regions.

They will also establish a youth policy roadmap, create an information and communication (IT) co-working platform, support projects to nurture youth regional value creators, and expand youth exchange projects.

According to Director Ha, Gyeongnam Province plans to build large-scale startup infrastructure next year, which will play a major role in revitalizing youth entrepreneurship in the province.

They will conduct basic planning and feasibility studies for the completion of the ‘G-Startup Hub,’ which will serve as a control tower and cluster startup support organizations and facilities in the province by 2027.

From the second half of next year, the Gyeongnam Eastern Region Youth Startup Academy will open in Yangsan to prevent the outflow of young entrepreneurs from the region.

They will also promote the Startup Youth Job Plus Support Project and the University-specialized Youth Startup Hub Creation Project.

▲ Youth Talent-Main Industry Co-growth Job Project ▲ Gyeongnam Energy Growth Plus Youth Job Project ▲ Social Value Management (ESG) Innovative Company Youth Talent Development ▲ Aerospace Industry Youth Talent Recruitment and other specialized youth job projects linked to regional key industries will also be implemented.

To promote the Gyeongnam-type track project that connects youth jobs between companies and universities, an agreement was signed between Korea Aerospace Industries (KAI) and 40 young talents, and agreements will be expanded with key mid-sized and large companies in the province such as nuclear power and defense industries.

▲ ICT Innovation Square Project ▲ SW Workforce Training Project ▲ ICT Field R&D Project ▲ Anchor Company Attraction and SW Workforce and Company Matching Program Project ▲ Gyeongnam SW Job Matching Practical Training, etc., efforts will be made to create jobs in the software (SW) field preferred by youth.

From next year, 30% of new hires in 16 investment and funded institutions and public enterprises in the province will be required to be local talents.

To nurture youth talents tailored to companies, they will recruit 500 third-term shared university students and provide advanced education, open a coding open meta campus, and newly establish a corporate-linked shared graduate school course.

The scale of support for agricultural settlement, payment unit price, loan support for youth successor farmers’ startup funds, support limits, youth fishing village settlement support amount will be increased, and a new youth fishery return internship project will be launched.

For youth housing stability, 200 public rental houses and youth rental houses will be supplied near industrial complexes, and dormitory-type youth housing will be pilot supplied near small and medium enterprise complexes.

Financial support for youth monthly rent, housing purchase loan interest, etc., and support for jeonse deposit return guarantee fees will be provided, and an online Gyeongnam customized housing support platform will also be operated.

Job support projects will be promoted to help youth cultural artists settle in the region and establish a foundation for independence, cultivating field-oriented talents based on the latest content.

▲ Youth Culture Activation Contest ▲ Youth Street Culture and Arts Activation Support ▲ Youth Culture Activist Discovery and Planning Promotion ▲ Youth Culture Street Development Plan, etc., with an investment of 2.4 billion KRW, will build a Gyeongnam-type youth culture activation foundation.

The ‘Traveling in Gyeongnam for a Month’ project, which has steadily increased participants, will be promoted together with 18 cities and counties.

Director Ha said, “In the new year, we will expand practical support to resolve difficulties faced by youth in the field so that their lives can improve in a better direction,” and added, “We will think from the youth’s perspective and do our best to support so that youth can grow up, work, and live in Gyeongnam without inconvenience.”

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