[Interview] Lee Gijae, Yangcheon District Mayor, "Y Education Expo Establishes Itself as Korea's Premier Expo"

Y Education Expo Held Nationwide for the First Time by Local Governments from 7th to 9th, Covering All Generations from Children to Seniors, Offering A to Z Experiences on Future Education

"Although there have been many discussions among educational stakeholders about the future of education in the Republic of Korea, there have been no events related to educational support activities at the basic local government level. Yangcheon-gu, a representative educational city in Korea, will make this Y Education Expo a model case for educational support activities by basic local governments," said Lee Gi-jae, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu (photo), in an interview explaining the significance of hosting the nationwide-scale Y Education Expo for the first time in a local government in Yangcheon-gu this year.

Since his election, Mayor Lee has been constantly contemplating ways to enhance educational competitiveness, aiming to create a happy educational city. He emphasized that "maximizing Yangcheon's strength as an educational city to raise the city's brand value is of utmost importance." As part of the solution, he planned the Y Education Expo to differentiate Yangcheon as an educational special zone from other regions.

The expo's greatest feature is that it goes beyond the Yangcheon area, encompassing all generations from children to seniors, allowing participants to experience everything from A to Z about future education.

On the first day, the Y Education Forum will be held jointly with EBS under the theme "Today's Education Creating the Future," starting at 3 p.m. in the main auditorium of the Yangcheon Culture Hall with 300 participants. Mayor Lee expressed his expectation, saying, "The forum, where five domestic and international scholars gather to discuss key issues of future education, will greatly help administrators set the right direction for future education." On the second day, to help youth resolve concerns about career paths and college admissions and to inspire hope for their future dreams, three domestic and international mentors?including former short track national team member Kwak Yoon-gi, Jamie Bitton (CEO of an overseas university admission consulting company), and Professor Han Jae-kwon?will be invited to hold a Career Talk Concert and Star Mentor Lectures.

On the 8th and 9th, a nationwide career and college admissions expo will be held, bringing together future talent selection experts to provide one-stop admissions, college entrance, and career information to students and parents nationwide through current and former education experts.

During the three-day Future Education Expo held around Yangcheon Park, visitors can directly experience and engage with the latest trends and changes in future technologies. Mayor Lee said, "Since the main concept of this Y Education Expo is future education, we have prepared a variety of programs that allow people to feel innovative future science and technology and creative ideas close to everyday life." He added, "We hope this will be an opportunity to strengthen future capabilities through four special zones showcasing cutting-edge new technologies and two competitions related to the Fourth Industrial Revolution."

In particular, he explained, "With the paradigm shift in education in the Fourth Industrial Revolution era, the global future education direction is to cultivate questioning abilities." He highlighted the expo's highlight program, the "ChatGPT English Speech Contest," stating, "Through comprehensive evaluation including speech writing and speaking skills using AI, we will discover global talents."

Additionally, to lead the lifelong education era encompassing all age groups from infants to seniors, the district has prepared a lifelong learning festival filled with learning, playing, and viewing opportunities over three days under the theme "The Joy of Learning, My Prosperous Future." Mayor Lee said, "The nine special stage programs provide communication time to meet experts from various fields directly," and expressed his expectation that "this will be a lifelong learning festival to experience a new paradigm of lifelong education and to plan a second life."

Mayor Lee Gi-jae declared, "We are determined to expand the Y Education Expo annually so that it can establish itself as a representative expo of Korea, thereby enhancing the status of Yangcheon as an educational city and leading the cultivation of global future talents in Korea."

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