The 21st Korea Youth Expo, co-hosted by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, and Andong City, will be held from May 22 to 24 at the Andong International Convention Center. The Youth Expo, which began in 2005, marks its 21st edition this year. It is recognized as a representative festival for youth, featuring a wide array of activity programs.
According to the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family on May 21, this year’s expo will feature more than 200 experiential activity zones, including six themed experience spaces designed to appeal to the interests of young people, as well as special spaces from national youth training facilities.
Programs include the “Creativity and Arts Zone,” which stimulates creativity, the “Career Experience Zone,” which helps with career exploration, and the “Mind Health Zone,” which offers psychological counseling and stress relief. There are also activity programs in various fields, such as the “Digital Competency Zone,” where participants can experience digital innovation technologies, including virtual reality dodgeball (XR Dodgeball HADO).
This year, in particular, the expo is organized under the theme “Embracing History, Opening the Future” to commemorate the 80th anniversary of Liberation. In the “Love for the Nation Zone,” youth can participate in historical experience events, such as taking photos with unmanned photo booths set against famous tourist attractions of South and North Korea, and a campaign to write their own declaration inspired by the Declaration of Independence.
At the special booths of national youth training facilities, participants can directly experience a variety of specialized programs, such as youth activities with robots (National Pyeongchang Youth Training Center), NYSC constellation fortune-telling (National Youth Space Center), and the Moss Forest (National Youth Bio Life Center).
In addition, daily special lectures by counselors (mentors) will be held, providing opportunities for youth to discuss and communicate about their concerns and career paths.
On May 22, TV producer and creator Kim Sojeong will give a lecture on “What Remains Is What You Try! The Importance of a Challenging Attitude.” On May 23, science communicator Lee Sunho will speak on “How Can I Live to Become a Happy, Convergent Talent?” On May 24, comedian Park Saemi will talk about “The Importance of Consistent Effort and Challenge.”
There will also be a variety of programs in which youth take the lead and participate actively.
On May 24, the “Korea Youth Grand Debate” will be held, where youth committee members of the Youth Special Conference and young people from across the country will exchange opinions on the theme of “Safety and Protection.”
The Youth Special Conference was launched in April this year. Through activities such as a joint policy development workshop in July, the conference will identify youth policies and finalize key policy agendas at the main session in September, which will then be proposed to the government.
On the same day in the afternoon, the finals of the “Korea Youth Activity Program Competition” will take place. After on-site evaluation of the programs from the seven finalist teams, outstanding programs will be awarded the Minister of Gender Equality and Family Award and the President of the Korea Youth Activity Promotion Agency Award.
Other cultural programs include the Food and Drug Safety Administration’s drug prevention education musical “Black Hole,” and “Ogeul,” a book concert organized by Cheonggeulnet, a youth activity writing communication network.
National youth hip-hop dance competitions and street performances (busking) will also be held on outdoor, regionally specialized stages.
Shin Youngsook, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, said, “The Korea Youth Expo has strived to provide experiential activities in various fields to offer youth opportunities for learning and new inspiration,” adding, “We hope this expo will serve as an opportunity for young people, who will become the protagonists of history, to embrace the past, present, and future and to develop diverse possibilities.”
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