Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun said Tuesday that "it is the state's duty to give young people fair opportunities to grow on their own and to build a recovery ladder that lets them rise again after failure."

Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun [Yonhap]
Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun [Yonhap]

Park made the remarks at a youth policy forum held at the National Assembly members' office building Tuesday. "The real hardships young people face — jobs, asset-building and the like — are not simply personal issues," he said.

The forum centered on key youth policy areas including employment, entrepreneurship, housing and asset formation, with participants discussing future policy directions and priority investment areas. National Assembly members Mo Gyeong-jong and Woo Jae-jun, along with Bong Geon-woo, chair of the Democratic Party of Korea's national university student committee, attended.

"Youth policy should not be preparation for some distant future — it must be something that changes lives today," Mo said. "I will make sure in the Assembly that today's discussions do not stop at declarations but translate into real budgets and policies."

Woo said youth unemployment is hitting record highs every month and rising housing costs are pushing young people further to the margins. "Before I am an opposition lawmaker, I am one of the youth myself, and I intend to speak frankly about the institutional limitations and realities I have witnessed on the ground," he said.

Bong said the wealth gap, employment freeze and housing instability facing the younger generation go beyond a generational problem and are directly tied to the risk of national demographic collapse. He called on the Ministry of Planning and Budget to take responsibility alongside young people for Korea's future over the next 100 years.

The ministry plans to hold further discussions with youth experts based on the forum's findings and incorporate the results into next year's budget proposal and its medium-to-long-term policy strategy.


y2k@heraldcorp.com