Busan is good

First Round of Document Review for the ‘2025 World-Class Youth Development Program’ Completed… 40:1 Competition Rate

내용

The Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that it has selected 15 candidates to advance to the second-round presentations through the first-round document review of the 2025 World-Class Youth Development Program.

---

The World-Class Youth Development Program has been implemented since 2021 to discover and support outstanding young individuals in Busan with global potential. The program provides up to KRW 100 million in customized competency development funds over a period of three years.

○ Selected individuals receive KRW 20 million in the first year, KRW 50 million in the second year, and KRW 30 million in the third year, supporting their participation in professional training, mentoring, and overseas training programs as they take steps onto the global stage.

○ Past awardees who have grown through this program include:

• ●Designer Yoon Seok-woon (selected in 2021), recipient of the Presidential Award at the 2023 Korea Fashion Awards,

• ●Author Oh Seong-eun (selected in 2023), now a featured writer on Korea’s largest e-book platform, Millie's Library,

• ●Chef Jeon Ji-seong (selected in 2023), chosen for the Michelin Guide Selected.

These individuals have proven the potential of Busan’s youth on both domestic and international stages.

---

The first-round document review was conducted on May 29 by a panel of six external experts, who rigorously and fairly evaluated the applicants based on criteria such as "motivation," "growth potential," and "contribution to the local community." A total of 15 candidates—five from each of the three categories: ▲Innovation Leaders, ▲Culture & Arts, and ▲Future Industries—were selected from 120 applicants. This is five times the number of final awardees (3).

○ In particular, the newly established Future Industries category aims to support young people leading advanced technologies and industries such as blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and secondary batteries.

○ This year’s 120 applicants marked an increase of 50 compared to the previous year—a 71% increase—indicating strong interest from youth. The applicants were distributed across categories as follows: ▲Innovation Leaders: 45 (38%), ▲Culture & Arts: 47 (39%), and ▲Future Industries: 28 (23%).

---

The city plans to select 6 candidates through the second-round presentations in June and finalize 3 awardees through a third-round public screening in July or August. Notably, a panel of Busan citizens will also participate in the final public evaluation to ensure fair and diverse perspectives in the judging process.

---

Kim Gui-ok, Director-General of the Youth & Industrial-Academic Support Bureau, stated, “We could feel the high level of interest in this program just from the number of applicants this year,” and added, “The remaining rounds of evaluation will be conducted fairly and transparently to select global young talents who will represent Busan. We will fully support their efforts to demonstrate their capabilities on the world stage.”

---

Appendix. Status of World-Class Youth Awardees (2021–2024)

Year	Name	Field	Major Achievements
2021	Kim Hyo-yeon	Photography	Grand Prize in Portrait Category at British Journal of Photography (UK)
	Yoon Seok-woon	Fashion Design	Rookie Designer Award (Menswear), Korea Designer Fashion Awards
	Park Jae-hong	Startup	Named Local Startup of the Year (by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups)
2022	Kang Hyun-min	Composition	IVLP Impact Award from U.S. Department of State
	Ahn Jong-hak	Dental Tech	Guest Lecturer for Overseas Employment Program, Catholic University of Pusan
	Kwon Ki-baek	Green Startup	Grand Prize, Youth Public Tech Startup Competition
2023	Oh Seong-eun	Literature (Fiction)	Selected as Excellent Publishing Content by Korea Publication Industry Promotion Agency
	Jeon Ji-seong	Culinary Arts	Selected as only Busan location in Blue Ribbon Survey’s national Top 10
	Ahn Hoo-yoon	Composition	Appointed Composer for <Gaia Gala> Concert
2024	Jung An-yong	Visual Arts	Runner-Up, Wiconomia Art ART PICK OPEN CALL
	Na Hae-ri	ESG Startup	Selected as an Excellent Social Enterprise by the Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency
	Ha Dae-soo	Sports Startup	Grand Prize, ICT & Smart Healthcare-Based Sports Industry Idea Contest