Youth participatory budgeting, lower political entry costs among pledges
'2030 emergency issues subcommittee' to tackle jobs, housing
Youth Foundation to be reorganized into national policy agency
Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Dong-a announced her candidacy for the party's national youth committee chairperson on Friday, pledging to introduce an elected youth supreme council member chosen directly by young party members.
Speaking at a press conference at the National Assembly's communication room, Kim said she would become "a vanguard of change to win back the support of the 2030 generation" and vowed to "completely transform the national youth committee into a body that genuinely solves problems and serves as a solid stepping stone for young politicians."
Kim said she would institutionalize young members' access to party leadership and decision-making by introducing an "elected" youth supreme council member chosen directly by young party members. She also pledged to allocate central party youth funds directly to provincial and local youth committees to ensure their independence, and to establish a "youth participatory budgeting" system under which young members plan projects and set priorities themselves.
Kim also outlined measures to lower the financial barriers facing young political hopefuls. "I will dramatically expand the reductions on deposit fees and primary election costs for young candidates, so that no young person is kept from the starting line by financial constraints," she said. She added that the party would directly support policy development, public relations and legal training through an expanded youth development fund.
Kim said she would also launch a "2030 emergency issues subcommittee" to address pressing concerns facing young people. "We will focus intensively on core issues including employment, housing, harm suffered during military service, and the employment gap, safety and human rights of young women," she said, adding that the subcommittee would formally demand effective legislative and policy responses from the party and government and disclose the implementation process transparently to party members.
Kim also pledged to overhaul the government's youth policy support framework. She said she would reorganize the Youth Foundation under the Office of the Prime Minister into a national "Youth Policy Promotion Agency" to consolidate the fragmented youth policy support network. She also said she would strengthen the Framework Act on Youth to ensure that the government's basic plan for youth policy is respected during the national budget process.
"I will transform the party from a place that listens to young people into a place where young people decide, and shift youth from being the object of politics to the subject of politics," Kim said. "A party that does not give power to today's youth cannot lead the future."
She added that she would use the national youth committee to drive change within the Democratic Party directly, and pledged to ensure the success of the Lee Jae Myung government's youth policies and secure a youth-centered victory in the next general election.
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