Gwangju City Announces 'Hope+ Policy' for Youth and Adolescents

Mayor Lee Yong-seop: "We will support policies and systems so that dreams are not lost"

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop is announcing follow-up measures for the operation of the 'Youth and Adolescents Special Week' through an online briefing at the city hall briefing room on the morning of the 13th. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has introduced the ‘Hope+ (Plus) Policy,’ which includes career exploration and employment/startup support for youth and adolescents.

On the morning of the 13th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held a non-face-to-face online press conference in the briefing room on the 5th floor of City Hall and announced follow-up measures for the operation of the ‘Special Week for Youth and Adolescents to Overcome COVID-19 (May 3rd?7th).’

From May 3rd to 7th, Mayor Lee visited Chosun College of Science and Technology, a specialized university with excellent employment records, held the Youth13 (Work+Life) account signing ceremony, visited the ‘Youth Life Design Center,’ a specialized facility for youth job experience, visited crisis youth support facilities, held meetings with youth organizations and youth leaders, held meetings between companies participating in youth job projects and youth, and attended the opening ceremony of the youth startup space at Gwangju Citizens Hall, listening to various opinions from youth and adolescents.

This announcement reflects the voices heard from these field activities.

For youth, the ‘Hope+ (Plus) Policy’ includes 15 support projects across 6 major areas, and for adolescents, 7 support projects across 4 major areas. The required budget is 41.531 billion KRW, which will be included in this year’s supplementary budget and next year’s projects for implementation.

The ‘Youth Hope+ Policy’ consists of 15 support projects in 6 major areas: ▲Social Settlement Support ▲Job Expansion ▲Job-Seeking Activity Support ▲Financial Safety Net Construction ▲Collaboration with Local Universities.

▲The ‘Social Settlement Support’ policy (4 projects) aims to help youth taking their first steps into society gain confidence and settle stably.

It includes a ‘Customized Capacity Building Project’ to restore confidence for youth suffering from employment difficulties, ‘Youth Life Counseling Office,’ ‘Youth Life School,’ and ‘Youth Life Survey’ operated jointly with the Gwangju Youth Center, ‘Expansion of Youth Customized Housing Lease Deposit Interest Support’ to reduce housing cost burdens for job seekers and early career youth, and the Youth13 (Work+Life) account project.

▲The ‘Job Expansion’ policy (4 projects) provides various employment and startup opportunities reflecting youth aptitudes and interests, including expansion of region-led youth job projects, customized vocational education for high school graduate youth, extension of participation periods in the Youth Job Experience Dream Project, and support for youth entrepreneurs residing in Gwangju Citizens Hall.

▲The ‘Job-Seeking Activity Support’ policy (2 projects) includes payment of Youth Dream Allowance for 5 months and a job-seeking transportation allowance of 300,000 KRW.

▲The ‘Participation and Communication Opportunity Expansion’ policy (2 projects) includes building a youth policy platform, a youth laboratory where youth discover policies themselves, a youth reporter group that independently promotes policies, and outreach youth policies to enhance publicity and accessibility so that more youth can participate in city administration.

▲The ‘Financial Safety Net Construction’ policy (2 projects) mainly includes the ‘Youth Dream Bank’ project to resolve youth debt and restore credit, and the ‘Support for Credit Recovery of Student Loan Credit Caution Subjects’ project.

▲The ‘Collaboration with Local Universities’ policy (1 project) involves the operation of a university development cooperation group with participation from Gwangju City, the education office, and 17 universities in Gwangju.

Additionally, the ‘Adolescent Hope+ Policy’ includes 7 support projects across 4 major areas: ▲Expansion of Career Exploration Support ▲Establishment of Integrated Support Service System for Crisis Adolescents ▲Support for Out-of-School Adolescents’ Activities ▲Expansion of Adolescent Support Facilities and Support Personnel.

▲The ‘Expansion of Career Exploration Support’ policy (1 project) focuses on creating an environment where adolescents can actively challenge themselves by finding their aptitudes through career experiences and club activities.

▲The ‘Integrated Support for Crisis Adolescents’ policy (1 project) is the first among metropolitan cities to create a complex space for crisis adolescent support by housing the Out-of-School Youth Support Center, Youth Counseling Welfare Center, and Youth Activity Promotion Center in one location.

▲The ‘Support for Out-of-School Adolescents’ policy (3 projects) includes plans to provide youth-only spaces, support self-reliance capacity-building projects, and establish an advanced internship course in vocational capacity-building programs so that out-of-school adolescents can nurture their dreams and grow in a safe environment.

▲The ‘Expansion of Adolescent Support Facilities and Support Personnel’ policy (2 projects) includes reorganizing youth training centers and additional support for youth leaders in autonomous districts.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop emphasized, “Youth and adolescents are our hope and future. True success in life is not wealth or power but achieving the dreams held in one’s heart. We will actively support our youth and adolescents through policies, systems, and administration so that they can freely dream, challenge, and realize their dreams even in the difficult situation of COVID-19.”