"Now Gathering in Virtual Space"... Ministry of Gender Equality Opens 'Metaverse Counseling Center' for Out-of-School Youth

Direct Access to Virtual Space
Realistic Regional Center Views Implemented
Individual Non-Face-to-Face Consultation Available

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family has opened the metaverse counseling center "Kkumdeulim Center" for out-of-school youth. The purpose is to provide a separate counseling and utilization space for youth who need various information outside of school.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and the Korea Youth Counseling & Welfare Institute launched the Kkumdeulim Center on the Naver 'ZEP' platform on the 30th. The target audience is out-of-school youth, who can receive services non-face-to-face without restrictions of time and space.

When accessing through the actual Kkumdeulim Center link, a space appears where users can enter the virtual center. After entering an ID and creating a character, users can enter the space. Upon entering the center's entrance, users can access centers prepared for each city and province nationwide.

Inside each center, the structure is similar to an actual center space, including event halls, lounges, meeting rooms, classrooms, and counseling rooms. Upon entering the counseling room, there are individual non-face-to-face counseling rooms and group counseling rooms. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family explained that actual chat, voice, and video counseling are possible.

In addition, the center provides various educational contents such as sexual violence prevention education, labor rights education, regional programs, and entrance exam materials.

Metaverse Counseling Center 'Kkumdream Center' Login Screen Capture

Last year, the "Smart Kkumdeulim Center" opened through the Zepeto app was created for experience and promotional purposes, but the newly opened service is planned to be used as a counseling window for actual out-of-school youth. A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official explained, "About 18,000 people accessed the Kkumdeulim Center last year, and this service will also meet its target by monitoring actual usage."

Kim Hyun-sook, Minister of Gender Equality and Family, also stated, "Going forward, through the metaverse Kkumdeulim Center, we will expand the support system so that out-of-school youth can realize their dreams by providing academic support such as preparation for the qualification exam, job training, and employment support such as internships."

Out-of-school youth refers to youth who have left school before completing the regular education curriculum after graduating from elementary, middle, or high school due to expulsion, withdrawal, deferment, non-enrollment, or non-attendance. According to the Ministry of Education, the number of out-of-school youth identified last year reached 170,000, and it is estimated that the number of out-of-school youth without school registration is even higher. However, the number of users of crisis youth support facilities is about 130,000 annually, leaving about 40,000 in a support blind spot.

For this reason, the government has recently emphasized establishing a protection system for out-of-school youth. On the 27th, the Ministry of Education announced that it would build statistics on out-of-school youth and strengthen related support in cooperation with related ministries such as the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the Ministry of Justice, and Statistics Korea.

Meanwhile, to commemorate the opening of the metaverse Kkumdeulim Center, an event is being held until the 10th of next month, where participants who tour the center and complete certification will receive prizes.