Lee Jangwoo Pledges 500,000 Won Support for Exam Students vs. Heo Taejung Vows to Make Bread Festival Daejeon's Signature Event

Daejeon Mayoral Candidates Unveil Pledges on Education, Youth, and e-Sports

Lee Jangwoo, the People Power Party candidate for mayor of Daejeon, pledged on May 12 at his campaign office to introduce the "Daejeon-type Talent Nurturing Educational Support Grant," which would provide Daejeon-resident college entrance exam students with educational support worth 500,000 won per year.

Lee stated, "I will take Daejeon beyond being a great city for raising children and elevate it to Korea’s top 'first-class education city,'" emphasizing, "We must move forward with a future-oriented urban strategy that connects education, youth growth, and the retention of local talent."

He went on to say, "I will end the era where students leave for the Seoul metropolitan area due to educational disparities." He explained that the support grant is designed to be used for: ▲ admissions and career consulting such as college application, interviews, and academic record management ▲ access to prominent online lectures and learning content ▲ future talent education including AI coding, drones, and robotics ▲ education in the arts, physical education, languages, and certifications ▲ psychological and emotional counseling.

In particular, Lee plans to actively support the invitation of renowned admissions experts, online Zoom consulting, and admissions planning systems so that students in Daejeon can receive entrance exam information and educational services comparable to those in Daechi-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul.

He added, "I will change the structure that forces families to move to the Seoul area for education, lower the burden on parents, and maximize the potential of our children. I want to make Daejeon a city where being born, educated, and growing up becomes a competitive advantage."

Lee also revealed plans to establish the "Daejeon-type Youth Growth Platform," which will provide integrated support for youth housing, employment, and entrepreneurship.

He envisions creating an AI youth innovation hub by utilizing sites such as the former Jungbu Police Station site on Jungang-ro in Jung-gu, combining youth rental housing, a public knowledge industry center, startup support facilities, and care centers.

The facility will feature four basement floors and 32 stories above ground, with a total floor area of 40,314 square meters. It will include 200 units of youth rental housing, a public rental knowledge industry center covering 13,880 square meters, care centers and startup support facilities of 3,200 square meters, as well as additional amenities.

Lee commented, "The reason young people leave for the Seoul metropolitan area is not simply a lack of jobs, but also insufficient housing, culture, and growth opportunities. I will build a city ecosystem where young people can settle and pursue challenges."

He further announced a plan to implement the "Daejeon-type Youth Engineer Practical Training Support Program," which connects local engineering colleges and technology companies.

This program will support local college students in gaining real-world practical experience at Daejeon-based technology firms during summer and winter vacations.

Participating students will be provided with vouchers for hands-on experience, and the city will partially subsidize companies' labor costs to establish "internships without passion pay."

In addition, Lee intends to build an academia-industry-government linkage system on Daejeon's job platform to connect engineering students and local engineers, with a pilot program focusing on strategic regional industries such as smart cities and infrastructure maintenance.

Lee stressed, "Although Daejeon has world-class research institutes and excellent universities, young people have not been able to stay in the region. Now, I will create a virtuous cycle where they learn, get jobs, and succeed in Daejeon."

On the same day, Hyejin Choi, Head of the Culture, Arts, Tourism, and Sports Division of the Election Countermeasures Committee for Heo Taejung, Democratic Party candidate for Mayor of Daejeon, held a press conference at the Daejeon City Council press room and announced six main pledges for culture, arts, tourism, and sports, including the development of the Bread Festival into Daejeon's representative festival.

The Heo campaign stated, "We present a blueprint for Daejeon where tourism services that strengthen the city's identity and promote economic circulation, as well as sports that safeguard citizens' health, become a part of daily life," adding, "Through this, we will create an 'Exciting Daejeon' where every citizen enjoys daily happiness."

In the field of culture and arts, the goal is to establish a "10-Minute Living Culture Zone," allowing residents to enjoy exhibitions, performances, and club activities within a 10-minute walk from their homes. They plan to build an integrated platform for everyday culture, turn community centers, libraries, living SOCs, and idle spaces into cultural hubs, and expand support for village arts groups, clubs, and youth and senior cultural activities.

To allow creators to focus solely on their art without worrying about their livelihoods, they will strengthen support for creation preparation funds and youth artist savings programs, establish an artist career management system, and expand job opportunities for artists. They also plan to build an integrated support system that combines creation, distribution, promotion, welfare, and jobs.

In particular, they proposed to establish a (tentatively named) "Culture and Arts Promotion Committee" directly under the mayor, so that the voices from the field are immediately reflected in policy.

For sports, the plan is to develop Daejeon into a city centered around everyday sports by launching the integrated sports platform "Fit Daejeon," which enables citizens to easily and conveniently make facility reservations and register for programs all in one place.

To this end, they will expand customized sports programs for people with disabilities and seniors, establish infrastructure to support citizens' daily exercise routines, and accelerate the creation of marathon and running courses.

To foster a sports tech industry that combines Daejeon's robust science and technology capabilities with sports, they will discover startups based on AI data, bio, healthcare, and wearable technologies, and actively support startup spaces, demonstration spaces, investment opportunities, and technology commercialization.

Additionally, they plan to establish Daejeon as Korea’s leading e-sports city by regularizing international e-sports tournaments and league operations, while also addressing youth employment and the creation of future growth engines.

For tourism, the slogan is "Daejeon, a city you want to stay longer and return to." To achieve this, Heo Taejung, who personally launched the Daejeon Bread Festival four years ago, aims to nurture it as a festival representing Korea, while also linking it with night tourism and village festivals to cultivate year-round stay-type tourism content industries.

They plan to connect the five district festivals with popular restaurants, traditional markets, cultural spaces, accommodation, and transportation to transition to stay-type tourism, revitalize local commercial districts, and create a virtuous cycle that enriches citizens' lives.

The Heo Taejung campaign stated, "Our pledges in the fields of culture, arts, tourism, and sports are daily life policies and future strategies that bring joy to citizens' lives, revitalize local economies, and open opportunities for artists and youth. We will make Daejeon an 'Exciting Daejeon' where culture, arts, tourism, and sports come alive."