Lee Administration's Economic Team Steps Up Outreach to Young People—Lee Eok-won, Park Hong-keun and Kim Young-hoon Engage in a Series of Initiatives

[Financial News] As President Lee Jae Myung focuses on youth policy while seeking to reverse his approval-rating decline, key ministers in the Lee administration's economic team have launched a series of outreach efforts targeting people in their 20s and 30s.
Financial Services Commission Chairman Lee Eok-won held a roundtable for young people at the Hanyang Comprehensive Technology Research Institute on Hanyang University Seoul Campus on the 21st, titled "A Preview of the FSC's 2027 Youth Programs." He announced, "We have increased the youth-support budget from KRW 870 billion this year to approximately KRW 2.1 trillion next year." Chairman Lee said, "We will pursue six programs in three areas—youth asset building, jobs and housing," adding, "We will significantly strengthen our support programs so that young people can feel the difference." He repeatedly emphasized policy commitments to helping young people build their first assets, providing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, and supporting a housing ladder.
The FSC established the Uri Ai Jarip Fund to support asset building among young people and expanded and revamped eligibility for the Youth Future Savings so that all young people can apply. More than 1.38 million people subscribed to the Youth Future Savings during its first round of applications on July 3, drawing considerable attention. Under the preferential plan, applicants can receive an interest-rate benefit of up to 19.4% annually. Applications for the second round of the Youth Future Savings, open to those ages 19 to 34, will be accepted from the 7th through the 16th of next month.
As part of its support for youth employment, the FSC will introduce financial-sector employment and fintech startup support for young people preparing for careers in the financial industry or launching fintech businesses. It will also introduce the Youth Opportunity Fund, a low-interest loan program for unemployed young people. The Youth Opportunity Fund offers loans of up to KRW 5 million per instance, with an annual limit of KRW 7.5 million and a lifetime limit of KRW 20 million. For housing support, the FSC decided to introduce the Youth Future Bogeumjari Loan for non-apartment housing and the Youth Combined Jeonse and Monthly Rent Guarantee, which will provide low-interest jeonse and monthly-rent funds in addition to jeonse guarantees for people without homes. The FSC plans to establish a Youth Financial Policy Advisory Group to reflect young people's views from policy planning through evaluation.
At a Youth Day ceremony on the 19th, President Lee Jae Myung proposed establishing a dedicated organization to oversee youth policy and a youth-policy system chaired by the prime minister. At the end of last month, ahead of the announcement of next year's government budget, he also held a "Youth Budget Unboxing" event to unveil the youth-policy budget separately in advance. Amid efforts to strengthen policy messaging for young people, Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun and Minister of Employment and Labor (MOEL) Kim Young-hoon each held forums with university students and young people on the 15th and 14th, respectively, to discuss living costs and jobs.
Meanwhile, in a poll conducted by Realmeter at the request of Energy Economy Newspaper among 2,507 people aged 18 or older nationwide from the 14th to the 18th, positive evaluations of President Lee's job performance stood at 34.8%, up 1.0 percentage point from the previous week and marking a rebound after 10 weeks. By age group, respondents in their 20s recorded 24.0%, up 5.4 percentage points—the largest increase—and moved out of the teens in approval.
[email protected] Jo Eun-hyo Reporter