Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at the Next Local Regional and Generational Cooperation Forum held at the Design Hall of Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]
Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks at the Next Local Regional and Generational Cooperation Forum held at the Design Hall of Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, on Friday. [Seoul Metropolitan Government]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has decided to expand Next Local — a regional startup support program it has run primarily for young entrepreneurs — to include middle-aged and older participants, helping them combine experience and expertise built in Seoul with local resources to pursue new careers and business ventures.

The city announced the expansion Friday at a forum held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Jung-gu, Seoul, bringing together about 150 participants including young and mid-career entrepreneurs and heads of regional governments to review the program's results and discuss plans for growth.

Next Local supports Seoul-based entrepreneurs who relocate to communities across the country, identify local resources and business opportunities, and develop them into marketable products and services.

Since its launch in 2019, 1,252 Seoul entrepreneurs have explored business opportunities across 52 regions nationwide over eight years, generating cumulative sales of 44.1 billion won ($31.2 million) and attracting 11.8 billion won in investment.

The city originally ran the program with a focus on young entrepreneurs but began extending eligibility to middle-aged and older participants last year.

The expansion aims to connect regional communities with professionals who built careers and expertise in the workforce, giving them a new stage for business and employment after retirement — a so-called "second act" in life.

After a pilot last year covering 21 teams across six regions, the city this year scaled up support to 50 teams across six regions.

The program's scope has also broadened beyond agriculture and food to include AI, IT, tourism and workcation — remote work from vacation destinations.

One team, Daily Portion, operating in Gumi in North Gyeongsang Province, developed an AI-based personalized fruit and vegetable juice service, relocated its business to Gumi and is expanding operations tied to local produce.

Among the mid-career startup teams, Flying House is drawing on its founders' backgrounds in public relations and IT to convert vacant homes and lodging facilities in regional areas into workcation spaces.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon attended the forum alongside the heads of five local governments — Yeongwol in Gangwon Province, Hongseong in South Chungcheong Province, Gumi and Chilgok in North Gyeongsang Province, and Hamyang in South Gyeongsang Province. Each local government pledged to support startup teams in putting down roots in their communities through business relocation assistance, processing and retail of local agricultural products, tourism tie-ins and local network building.

The city plans to develop Next Local from a straightforward startup support program into a mutual-benefit model — one that gives young people a new business arena, offers mid-career professionals a chance to restart using their accumulated skills, and attracts outside talent and new ventures to regional communities.

"This is a project where Seoul's talent and ideas meet the resources and potential of regional communities, creating new opportunities for everyone," Oh said. "We will strengthen support so that not only young people but also middle-aged and older individuals with experience and capability can find new work and take on fresh challenges in the regions."


ken@heraldcorp.com