Mokpo City Council Member Yoo Chang-hoon Calls for Support System for Aspiring Returning Fishermen

Proposal for Enactment of Ordinance on Fostering and Supporting Young Fisheries Workers

Mokpo City Council announced on the 18th that Councilor Yoo Chang-hoon (Mokwon, Yudal, Dongmyeong, Manho-dong) delivered a 5-minute free speech at the 2nd plenary session of the 382nd meeting on the 15th.

In his 5-minute free speech, Councilor Yoo pointed out, “Although Mokpo City has the highest rate of fishery resources and fishery product auction rates nationwide, it is categorized as an urban area due to regional characteristics. Nearby Yeosu, with a similar living environment, is called a fishing city, and Suncheon is called an agricultural city. However, compared to these two cities, Mokpo faces the unfortunate reality of difficulty securing resources for national policy projects related to agriculture and fisheries.”

Mokpo City Council member Yoo Chang-hoon is delivering a 5-minute free speech at the 382nd 2nd plenary session. [Photo by Mokpo City Council]

He explained, “As of May 2023, there are 31 young fishery workers in Mokpo City (aged 18 to 40), with 11 under 30 years old and 20 between 31 and under 40 years old. The number of young fishery workers is expected to decrease significantly in the coming years.”

He continued, “To revitalize the fishery industry, it is essential to attract many young people. As a countermeasure, a comprehensive support plan and systematic system should be established to discover and nurture young workers in the fishery sector, ensuring continuous inflow and settlement. This includes enacting an ordinance to support young fishery workers and entrepreneurship, fostering young people’s attraction to fisheries and aspiring entrepreneurs, and establishing a systematic support system to discover and nurture those wishing to return to fishing.”

He also stated, “Mokpo, rich in fishery resources, is expected to suffer considerable damage to the fishery industry and a decline in fishery product consumption if Japan’s radioactive contaminated water is discharged into the ocean. I ask Mokpo City to actively respond and establish a systematic management system.”

Furthermore, he said, “Although many youth policies are being implemented to create a Mokpo where young people return, the fishery policies, which are the lifelong livelihood of our Mokpo, have lagged far behind neighboring local governments, and policies for young fishery workers are severely lacking. I hope this will be an opportunity for existing fishery workers and young people wishing to enter the fishery industry to cooperate. I earnestly ask for active review and measures through continuous interest and support so that the sea, the living ground of fishery workers, can become fertile.”

Meanwhile, Councilor Yoo Chang-hoon is serving as a member of the 12th Mokpo City Council’s Planning and Welfare Committee. Recently, he has been actively engaged in legislative activities to provide practical and realistic support for the youth, including leading the proposal of the ‘Mokpo City Youth Development Basic Ordinance,’ which raises the age limit for youth in Mokpo City to 45 years old.

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