President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a youth policy expert forum held at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. [Yonhap]
President Lee Jae Myung speaks at a youth policy expert forum held at Cheong Wa Dae on Friday. [Yonhap]

President Lee Jae Myung spent about 200 minutes Friday listening to expert advice on youth policy at a forum hosted at Cheong Wa Dae. The presidential office plans to incorporate the feedback into a youth policy vision to be announced in the second half of the year.

Cheong Wa Dae chief spokesperson Kang Yu-jung said in a written briefing that Lee held the "Expert Forum for a Great Transformation in Youth Policy" that afternoon to strengthen the effectiveness of youth policy and reshape the overall direction of state affairs to be more youth-friendly.

The forum brought together Seo Bok-kyung, vice chairperson of the Youth Policy Coordination Committee, along with specialists in employment, AI, entrepreneurship, housing and welfare, who exchanged views with presidential office officials on the direction and challenges of youth policy. The session ran about 200 minutes, far exceeding the 90 minutes originally scheduled.

Discussions centered on restructuring the fragmented youth-related budget and programs from a youth perspective into a model focused on tangible impact and growth-oriented investment.

Kang said participants agreed that young people are directly confronting rapidly shifting social and economic conditions — including the AI transformation — and that existing youth policies have failed to make a sufficient impact on the ground.

A common concern was that despite the government running 389 youth programs worth about 30 trillion won ($21.2 billion), young people have not felt the benefits in their daily lives.

Participants proposed several priorities: establishing a planning and coordination function linking analysis, design and implementation; setting a structured direction centered on employment and housing; developing personalized AI services to make it easier for young people to access youth policies; and shifting to communication methods that use the language and channels preferred by youth.

They also called for realizing "youth agency" — ensuring that young people's voices are reflected throughout the policymaking and implementation process.

Wrapping up the forum, Lee expressed gratitude to participants for their time, saying "your direct participation matters" and that the session had been "of great help."

Kang said the concerns and proposals discussed at the forum "will be reviewed in depth and announced as the youth policy vision for the second half of the year."


moone@heraldcorp.com