Youth administrative interns introduced citywide drew a 4.4-to-1 competition ratio
'Post-it Talk' session lets interns speak freely with mayor — 'We cheer your new beginning'
Mayor shares direction for youth employment tied to agri-bio, new energy industries and cultural tourism
Naju City's inaugural youth administrative internship program has been widely credited with bringing fresh energy to city operations. The six-month program concluded with interns' firsthand experiences, candid feedback and policy ideas serving as a valuable asset for developing youth employment and settlement policy.
Naju City held the "2026 Naju City Youth Administrative Intern Communication Roundtable" on Friday under the theme "Tomorrow I Found in Naju (My Job): Youth Experience Becomes Naju's Future."
The roundtable was organized to hear from young people who had worked across various city departments since March, gaining hands-on administrative experience, and to give them a free forum to share their impressions, policy ideas and suggestions.
Naju City launched the youth administrative internship program this year to give local young people practical work experience, help them build career credentials and support their career exploration.
The program drew a 4.4-to-1 competition ratio for 20 spots. Those selected through document screening and interviews were placed in departments across city hall, where they spent about six months handling a range of administrative tasks and building practical skills.
At the roundtable, interns used a "Post-it Talk" format — designed to break away from stiff formality — to freely share what they had felt over six months on the job, along with policy ideas and areas for improvement seen through a young person's eyes.
The interns delivered unfiltered feedback directly to Mayor Yun Byeong-tae, covering a range of issues they had experienced firsthand — including extending the internship period, improving working conditions and adding staff to departments with heavy workloads.
Mayor Yun engaged openly with the interns' questions and proposals, exchanging views freely and sharing the city's youth employment policy and its future direction.
He also praised the interns for the new experiences and skills they had built over six months and encouraged them as they set out on the next steps in their job searches and careers.
The city plans to review the feedback gathered at the roundtable carefully and use it to improve future operations of the youth administrative internship program, as well as to shape employment and settlement policies that young people can feel in their daily lives.
"I hope the experience you built over the past six months — learning by doing in the administrative field — becomes a solid asset as you chart your own path and step out into society," Mayor Yun said. "We will keep creating quality jobs that young people want, centered on agri-bio, new energy industries and cultural tourism, while also building youth-friendly living conditions — housing, culture and more — so that Naju becomes a city where young people don't leave, and come back."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
