Turning to Comfort the Alienated 2030 Generation... President Moon Attends the 1st Youth Day

Inviting Ambitious Youth to Cheongwadae for Honor and Awards
BTS Attends as Youth Leaders and Delivers Speech

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at a meeting with Korean Buddhist leaders held at the Blue House on the morning of the 18th.

Amid the growing sentiment of questioning among the 2030 youth, President Moon Jae-in and the First Lady will attend the 1st Youth Day commemorative ceremony held at 10 a.m. on the 18th at the Blue House's Nokjiwon.

This ceremony is the first official government commemorative event following the enforcement of the Youth Basic Act (August 5). It reflects the government's intention to honor the youth who have played their roles at every moment for national development by inviting them directly to the Blue House and to break down the barriers between the youth and the government through communication to address the problems and concerns of the youth.

Held under the event name "New, Deepening, and Expanding," this ceremony invites youth from various ages, regions, and occupations to ensure no neglect toward the youth who have strived for a better Republic of Korea.

The ceremony will proceed in the order of ▲opening performance, ▲commemorative video, ▲awarding of meritorious persons, ▲youth speech, ▲2039 gift presentation ceremony, ▲presidential commemorative speech, and ▲commemorative performance.

Among these, the youth representative speech will feature BTS, who achieved two consecutive weeks at number one on the Billboard chart, attending as youth leaders who introduced Korea to the world and voicing the concerns of the youth.

BTS will deliver sincere stories as individuals, not as idols, conveying a message of hope to the youth and asking the older generation for support and encouragement.

Additionally, BTS will present the "2039 gift," which will be unveiled 19 years later, for the future youth generation. The gift presented on this day will be deposited at the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History and is scheduled to be unveiled at the 20th Youth Day 19 years from now.

This event will be conducted under thorough preventive measures including pre- and post-event disinfection and temperature checks to prevent COVID-19. Emergency medical personnel have also been additionally assigned to ensure safe hosting.

Meanwhile, according to a public opinion poll released by the polling agency Realmeter on the 14th, the approval rating of President Moon Jae-in's administration among the 20s youth group was recorded at 36.6%, the lowest among all age groups.

The approval rating among people in their 20s dropped sharply by 9.5 percentage points over two weeks from 46.1% to 39% and then to 36.6%. The main reasons cited include feelings of deprivation due to soaring housing prices and unfairness issues related to former Minister Cho Kuk and Minister Choo Mi-ae.