[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Lee Nak-yeon, former leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, met with university students in the Gwangju area and announced plans to establish a safety net to create a society where young people can feel secure.
On the 13th, Lee attended a meeting hosted by the Gwangju-Jeonnam General Student Council at Chosun University under the theme of "Fairness and Youth."
At the event, he gave a lecture titled "A Country That Protects the Lives of Youth and University Students," stating, "The spirit of the times now demands a country that protects my life."
He continued, "If young people can start on an equal footing when entering society, from then on, they can live by making efforts and taking responsibility for their own lives. Even after that, if they fall once, the state should help them get back up and provide opportunities for a second chance. I believe this is a fundamental role of the state."
He also spoke about the "30 million won social start-up fund for discharged soldiers."
Lee said, "I believe the social start-up fund is a fair reward that we can give to our youth who served the country during their precious youth," explaining, "If soldiers' salaries continue to rise steadily as they have been and the 'Soldiers' Tomorrow Preparation Savings' system is further improved and used wisely by soldiers, it will not be impossible to prepare a lump sum of 30 million won upon discharge."
In particular, he emphasized, "The social start-up fund is not a system that excludes women," adding, "As the military manpower resource gradually decreases and the active duty approval rate (81.3% in 2019) rises, opportunities to serve as social service agents in welfare, education, health, environment, and other areas where gaps occur will be opened to women as well, allowing them to build social careers and also prepare the social start-up fund."
Additionally, he explained various policies being prepared to address youth issues, including ▲ expanding the preferential loan-to-value (LTV) ratio for first-time homebuyers among youth and a 50-year maturity mortgage national guarantee system ▲ the need to expand workforce training at universities and vocational training institutions to prepare for an annual shortage of 150,000 IT professionals ▲ creating a stable investment environment and blocking and cracking down on illegal activities through the institutional absorption of virtual currency ▲ increasing the local talent employment rate to 50% at public enterprises in innovation cities and companies in national industrial complexes (30% from local universities, 20% from universities in other regions).
Lee emphasized, "Whether in Seoul or the provinces, a virtuous cycle structure where people are born, study, work, and start families in their region must be created to prevent the concentration in the metropolitan area," adding, "Local governments must provide conditions for local talents to live in their regions through quality jobs."
The event was attended by about 70 students from universities in the Gwangju-Jeonnam area, including Chosun University, Dongshin University, Songwon University, Nambu University, Gwangju University, and Chosun Institute of Science and Technology. It was organized for Lee to hear their main concerns and thoughts and to discuss the issues faced by youth together.
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