Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggi Future Generation Foundation held the '2025 Gyeonggi Youth Gap Year Program Launch Ceremony' at the Grand Theater of the Gyeonggi Arts Center on June 9, cheering on the new journey of 1,091 young people who were newly selected for support this year.
The Gyeonggi Youth Gap Year Program is a project that provides support such as project execution funds, aptitude tests, mentoring, and connections to employment or entrepreneurship, so that young people can explore their career paths by experiencing the work they desire.
Dongyeon Kim, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, who attended the ceremony, expressed his desire to communicate more with young people. He announced plans to hold two rounds of brown bag meetings, inviting about 20 young people at a time for direct conversations, which was met with applause.
Governor Kim went on to say, "Young people need two things. One is the effort of the mother hen pecking from the outside to break the egg, and the second is the effort of the chick inside the egg trying to break it together."
He especially advised, "It will take a lot of effort to break the shell that confines you from the outside, and I will also strive to break that shell with you. I hope you, too, will peck from inside the egg so that you can break through the strong shell and emerge."
Gyeonggi Province Governor Dongyeon Kim is cheering with young people at the '2025 Gyeonggi Youth Gap Year Program Launch Ceremony' held on the 9th at the Gyeonggi Arts Center Grand Theater. Provided by Gyeonggi Province
He added, "After graduating from a commercial high school, I couldn't afford to go to college, so I worked and later attended night school, eventually becoming a public official. People said I was a dragon rising from a stream. Now, we must create a world where dragons can rise not just from a few lanes, but from everywhere."
During the event, young people who participated in various policies such as Gap Year, Ladder, and Youth Participation Organizations shared their experiences, and a video containing messages of support from fellow interviewees was also shown.
The 'Gyeonggi Youth Gap Year Program,' which began in 2023, expanded its number of participants from 800 last year to 1,091 this year, based on high satisfaction and strong competition among applicants.
Youth participating in the Gap Year program receive expert mentoring and up to 5 million won in individual support to carry out projects they have planned themselves. Those selected for outstanding projects receive additional support.
Gyeonggi Province plans to share participants' achievements through a best practices booklet and a results-sharing event, and will support programs that connect participants to employment and entrepreneurship.
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