City announces large-budgeted plan to help younger Seoulites

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon speaks during a press briefing at Seoul City Hall in central Seoul on Wednesday to announce a comprehensive youth support plan for 2025. [NEWS1]

Seoul City announced Wednesday it plans to invest 6.3 trillion won ($5.2 billion) toward policies supporting the youth under its five-year plan, including sectors of employment, housing and welfare.

Mayor Oh Se-hoon, who had pledged to make Seoul into a city of hope for young people in his inauguration speech in April last year, unveiled a comprehensive youth support plan to be in effect until 2025 on Wednesday. This will be the city's second mid- to long-term youth support scheme following an earlier one established in 2016 that lasted until 2020 by the previous mayor, Park Won-soon.

While the first plan aimed at young people in vulnerable groups, Oh explained that the new plan is focused on relieving the stress and concerns about more general problems felt by “one in three Seoul citizens,” or a large portion of the younger population.

The number of policy goals increased 2.5 times while the allotted budget increased 8.8 times compared to the first plan. Eleven support projects were newly added, which include providing subsidies to young people for public transportation, moving residences, career training academies, financial counseling services and housing rent.

According to the city's new youth support plan, Seoul will provide subsidies for public transportation costs in the form of mileage, essentially refunding up to 100,000 won per year for 150,000 young people aged 19 to 24.

Providing money needed for housing and business start-ups was also presented as a key for the new scheme. To help young people pay for the large fees involved with house hunting or starting a business, the Seoul Metropolitan Government decided to scrap the income requirement for its "Doubled Hope Youth Bankbook" program that returns twice the amount of savings of young people, in order to benefit more people.

For housing, the city plans to provide 200,000 won in monthly rent for up to 10 months to young, single households in regions with higher rent averages. This year, 46,000 people will be able to benefit from the financial support, and from next year, that number will be expanded to 50,000 annually, even if they are already receiving support from the central government.

Seoul will also provide more affordable public housing for young people and newlyweds, with more than 55,000 units by 2025.

In the second half of the year, the city government will provide young people with up to 400,000 won per person in moving expenses, citing that young people frequently find themselves having to move for various reasons, while also annually distributing 100,000 won worth of vouchers per person in the age group to use for specific kinds of online content, such as for software downloads, thesis research and e-book purchases.

“We have established a control tower to oversee scattered youth policies, such as employment and housing, and came up with a plan that can substantially change the overall lives of young people,” Oh said.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]