Pohang city officials pose for a commemorative photo at the city's external affairs office on Thursday after winning a special award in the regional job disclosure category — the Minister of Employment and Labor Award — at the 2026 National Local Government Jobs Awards for the second consecutive year. [Pohang City]
Pohang city officials pose for a commemorative photo at the city's external affairs office on Thursday after winning a special award in the regional job disclosure category — the Minister of Employment and Labor Award — at the 2026 National Local Government Jobs Awards for the second consecutive year. [Pohang City]

Pohang, in North Gyeongsang Province, won a special award in the regional job disclosure category — the Minister of Employment and Labor Award — at the 2026 National Local Government Jobs Awards ceremony held Wednesday at the Korea Press Center in Seoul, marking the city's second consecutive win at the annual event organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The recognition reflects Pohang's policy efforts to stabilize employment amid the structural downturn in the steel industry while simultaneously nurturing future growth sectors — including secondary batteries, biotech, hydrogen and AI — and improving residential conditions to strengthen the city's employment base.

To address job insecurity stemming from the steel industry slump, the city secured designation as a "preemptive response zone for employment crisis" and has worked with related agencies — including the Pohang branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea — to provide on-site consulting at steel industrial complexes and expand tailored support for individual companies.

The city has also drawn on North Gyeongsang Province's Buttimeum Project — backed by 8 billion won ($5.7 million) in national funding — to support the financial stability, career transitions and re-employment of workers at local small and medium-sized enterprises, helping to cushion the impact of employment shocks.

The city's targeted policies for specific demographic groups — including youth, women and middle-aged and older residents — as well as its efforts to improve residential conditions also received high marks from evaluators.

"We will continue to strengthen the competitiveness of our existing key industries while cultivating new future industries, and we will expand tailored employment policies that all residents — from youth to the middle-aged — can feel the benefit of, in order to build a sustainable employment base," Mayor Park Yong-seon said.


kbj7653@heraldcorp.com