Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province join forces on jobs

'2026 Buu-gyeong Wide-Area Jobs Project' launches Tuesday at Bexco

12.5 billion won initiative links talent, settlement and future employment across three regions

70 companies to participate alongside marine and fisheries job fair

Layout map and promotional poster for the Busan-Ulsan-South Gyeongsang Province wide-area jobs fair [Busan city government]

Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province will jointly launch the "Buu-gyeong Wide-Area Jobs Project" on Tuesday, with a launch ceremony and job fair running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Hall 2 of Bexco in Busan. The event will be held alongside a marine and fisheries employment fair.

The launch ceremony is expected to draw about 150 attendees, including Busan Mayor Jeon Jae-soo, Ulsan Mayor Kim Sang-uk, South Gyeongsang Province Governor Park Wan-su, Deputy Minister of Employment and Labor Kwon Chang-jun, Busan City Council Speaker Kang Mu-gil, and representatives from industry and related organizations.

The project was established as part of a competitive grant program run by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, with the aim of connecting Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province into a single employment zone and supporting job matching between companies and job seekers across the region.

The initiative will receive a total of 12.5 billion won ($9.24 million) — 10 billion won in national funding and 2.5 billion won in local funding — to carry out three sub-projects and seven detailed programs over four years: "Talent Connection," "Settlement Connection" and "Future Connection." The three regions plan to move beyond individual local employment policies and instead pool their industrial strengths, talent and corporate capacity into a single regional framework to tackle job challenges together.

The Talent Connection program will help young workers from Greater Seoul and other areas settle in the region and build assets as they join companies in Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province's key industries. It will also support young people who relocate within the region or commute across administrative boundaries, with the goal of encouraging long-term employment.

The Settlement Connection program will support workers who commute across the three regions and provide wide-area employment services, creating a living and working environment that allows people to move freely across administrative boundaries.

The Future Connection program will train specialists needed for the AI transformation of regional industries and support inter-company collaboration on joint research, production and supply chains, laying the groundwork for sustainable job creation.

Tuesday's job fair will feature 70 large, mid-sized and small and medium-sized enterprises — 35 from Busan, 19 from Ulsan and 16 from South Gyeongsang Province. By sector, the participating firms include 27 in shipbuilding, 12 in automotive and 31 in machinery and components. More than 1,000 science and engineering graduates and job seekers in those fields are expected to attend, with on-site hiring matches to be made between companies and candidates.

The venue will include booths for major company promotions, corporate recruitment, wide-area employment services, executive search, job-seeking support and settlement assistance — offering job seekers broad opportunities beyond their home regions and giving companies access to the talent they need. A simultaneous marine and fisheries job fair will bring together more than 100 companies and job seekers from the sector across the three regions.

That afternoon, a policy forum on the project will bring together central government and regional experts to discuss the direction of wide-area employment policy and areas for collaboration among the three regions. Follow-up employment services are also planned after the fair, including a career-planning workshop that visits universities to help students map out their career paths and a workplace tour that takes participants to local companies to deepen their understanding of job roles and facilitate further matching.

"Busan, Ulsan and South Gyeongsang Province form a single living zone where industry, talent, jobs and daily life are closely intertwined," Jeon said. "I hope this project will serve as a cornerstone for the three regions to grow together as a wide-area jobs ecosystem and expand cooperation across a range of fields."

kaf2002@heraldcorp.com