Jeonnam Assemblyman Na Gwangguk: "We Must Design an Integrated Youth Policy for the Southwestern Region Now"

Policy Forum on Responding to Youth Outmigration in Southwestern Jeonnam Concludes Successfully
Integrated Approach for Muan, Mokpo, and Sinan...Youth Policy Roadmap Presented

Jeonnam Provincial Council held the "Policy Forum on Responding to Youth Outmigration from Jeonnam's Southwestern Region" on the afternoon of the 26th in the council's Choui Room. Provided by Jeonnam Provincial Council

The Jeollanam-do Provincial Council has begun seeking solutions to the problem of youth outmigration from the southwestern region of Jeonnam.

On the afternoon of the 26th, the Jeonnam Provincial Council held the "Policy Forum on Responding to Youth Outmigration in Southwestern Jeonnam" in the council's Chouisil and discussed an integrated youth policy roadmap that would link the southwestern region, including Muan, Mokpo, and Sinan, into a single living area.

The forum was organized to examine the reality of youth outmigration through data and to move beyond a simple list of support projects toward the stage of institutional design.

Assemblyman Na Gwangguk of the Democratic Party of Korea (Muan 2), who chaired the forum, said, "The lives of young people in the southwestern region are already connected beyond administrative boundaries," and added, "I hope today's discussion will not stop at diagnosis but will become a starting point that leads to concrete policy design and institutionalization."

Professors Yoo Cheon, Ryu Doam, and Park Sunghyun of Mokpo National University, who presented the main report, released the results of their joint survey.

According to the findings, while 60% of young people in Muan, Mokpo, and Sinan perceived the area as a "single living area," 65.9% were considering moving to other regions. The main reasons were a lack of jobs and cultural infrastructure.

In particular, more than 40% of respondents answered that they "do not know which youth policies apply to them," indicating a low level of policy awareness. It was also pointed out that there is a structural limitation in which the three cities and counties each pursue similar projects separately, dispersing the budget while failing to produce tangible effects.

As alternatives, the professors proposed: designing integrated youth policies based on the living-area unit; establishing a step-by-step roadmap; revising the Jeollanam-do basic ordinance on youth and enacting a joint ordinance for the three cities and counties; and creating a stable financial support system.

The general discussion included participation from Jeong Hyejeong, Director of the Youth Hope Division of Jeonnam Province; Muan County Council member Kim Bongseong; Mokpo City Council member Choi Jiseon; and youth activist and representative Jeong Sohye.

Participants agreed that, under the current policy structure fragmented at the city and county level, it would be difficult to prevent youth outmigration from the southwestern region.

Specifically, proposals were made for creating a youth fund for the southwestern region; building an integrated support platform; institutionalizing youth participation in policy decision-making; and promoting interconnected policies on industry, jobs, housing, and education.

The aim is to go beyond simply increasing subsidies and instead create a "settlement-enabled structure" by bundling industrial policy together with housing and education policies.

Assemblyman Na stated, "The lives of young people in the southwestern region are already crossing administrative boundaries," and added, "I will work to ensure that the tasks discussed today, such as enacting and revising ordinances and building platforms, lead to concrete results."