'Gwangjin Youth Balance Game' event runs through Nov. 15, surveying policy demand across five areas including housing, employment and culture; district mayor to meet youth in the field on Nov. 25
Gwangjin-gu in Seoul has launched a dedicated youth portal that consolidates support information — from employment and entrepreneurship to housing and culture — in one place, while also opening a channel for young residents to propose the policies they want.
The Gwangjin-gu Youth Portal is an integrated online platform that brings together youth support program information scattered across central government ministries, the Seoul Metropolitan Government and the district office. Young residents can check available programs, application periods and eligibility requirements without visiting each agency's website separately.
The portal organizes content by category, covering employment and startup information, recruitment notices, housing and cultural support programs, and youth policies from other agencies. A newly added section provides facility details and usage guidelines for Gwangjin Youth Ajit, a youth multipurpose cultural space that opened in June.
Policy inquiries and suggestions can be submitted through the "Youth Talktalk" bulletin board on the portal.
To broaden youth participation in policymaking, Gwangjin-gu is also running the "Gwangjin Youth Balance Game" event through Nov. 15.
The event is open to residents between the ages of 19 and 39 living in Gwangjin-gu. Participants choose between paired policy options across five themes — easing the monthly rent burden versus subsidizing job-preparation costs, creating youth cultural spaces versus supporting cultural and leisure expenses, and expanding youth job fairs versus expanding job-preparation programs — and explain their preference.
Participants can also weigh in on whether they would prefer mental health counseling and support for exercise and hobbies, or startup spaces paired with entrepreneurship education and expert consulting.
Those who wish to take part can visit the Youth Talktalk board on the district office's youth portal, select one question, and write their choice along with their reasoning and any policy requests for Gwangjin-gu.
The district plans to review the collected responses to assess youth policy demand. Young residents who want to join the "District Mayor and Youth Field Communication" session scheduled for Nov. 25 can indicate their interest in the same post.
"We will keep the lines of communication open so young people can easily find the support information they need and freely share their thoughts," Gwangjin-gu District Mayor Kim Kyung-ho said. "We will listen closely to the voices of young residents in their daily lives and develop policies they can truly feel."
Gwangjin-gu has won the Youth-Friendly Constitutional Award for four consecutive years in recognition of its efforts to engage youth and expand their participation in policymaking.
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