Gyeongbuk Provincial Assembly Member Kim Ilsu: "Youth Job Budget Halved" ... High Youth Unemployment Rate

Criticism in Provincial Assembly Administrative Audit

Kim Ilsu, a member of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council (Gumi·People Power Party), pointed out the halving of the youth employment projects during the administrative audit of the Local Era Policy Bureau held on the 15th, and called for the Gyeongbuk provincial government to prepare countermeasures to strengthen support for youth job projects.

Councilor Kim of the Gyeongbuk Provincial Council stated that compared to last year, the number of projects and budget for Gyeongbuk's youth employment projects have decreased. The representative youth employment project, ‘High School and University Youth Employment Project,’ was allocated 19 projects with a budget of 36.1 billion KRW in 2022, but was reduced to 10 projects with a budget of 18.1 billion KRW in 2023, cutting both projects and budget in half. Although there are various reasons such as a decrease in national funding and project termination, he emphasized that the Gyeongbuk provincial government needs to take a more proactive approach toward youth employment projects.

Gyeongbuk Provincial Council Member Kim Ilsu.

According to the 2023 third quarter youth employment and unemployment rate status, compared to the national youth employment rate and unemployment rate of 46.8% and 5.2% respectively, Gyeongbuk’s youth employment rate and unemployment rate were 38.2% and 7.7%, showing that the youth employment situation in Gyeongbuk is very poor.

Councilor Kim demanded that, in the reality of Gyeongbuk where the outflow of local youth is accelerating, the provincial government of Gyeongbuk prepare active countermeasures for youth employment projects, such as discovering youth-tailored job projects reflecting new trends to help local youth settle and prevent outflow to other regions.

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