Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Selected as “Excellent” in the Ministry of Employment and Labor’s 2025 Youth Challenge Support Program Evaluation

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) and the Busan Economic Promotion Agency (President Song Bok-cheol) announced that they have been selected for the highest rating, “Excellent,” in the 2025 Youth Challenge Support Program performance evaluation conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor, in recognition of their outstanding operational performance at the national level.

The Ministry of Employment and Labor’s Youth Challenge Support Program is designed to provide step-by-step support—from psychological recovery and career exploration to strengthening employment competencies—for young people who have given up on job searching for extended periods, youth preparing for independent living, and young people entering or leaving youth shelters. The program has been implemented since 2021.

This year’s evaluation covered 86 operating institutions nationwide and was conducted using an absolute evaluation method across all aspects of the program, including program operation and performance, participant recruitment and promotion, operational capacity and organizational management, and program effectiveness and follow-up management.

Busan Metropolitan City operates the program centered on the WENIT Campus, providing personalized counseling, confidence-building programs, region-specific experiential activities, and employment-linked programs to systematically support young people in returning to society and taking on new challenges.

The City received high overall evaluations for its program operations by meeting most of its self-achievement indicators, including additional evaluation criteria such as expanding participation among vulnerable youth groups. In particular, it achieved excellent results and high scores in key evaluation categories, including participant satisfaction, efforts to collaborate with related organizations, and enhancement of the expertise of dedicated staff.

Positive feedback has also been reported directly from participating young people. One participant shared, “It felt overwhelming to start over on my own, but through counseling and the programs, I was able to reflect on myself and gain the courage to take a step forward,” adding, “More than whether I found a job, the biggest change was feeling reconnected to society.”

Building on these achievements, Busan Metropolitan City plans to further expand and advance the program in 2026. The project budget will be increased from KRW 1.18 billion to KRW 1.3 billion, and the number of beneficiaries will be expanded from 240 to 260, allowing more young people to benefit from the policy.

In addition, the City plans to strengthen programs that reflect the actual needs of young people and further enhance the substance of the program by expanding practical employment-linked initiatives, such as work experience and job training programs.

Kim Gwi-ok, Director General of the Youth and Industry-Academia Bureau of Busan Metropolitan City, stated, “Consistent management of young people’s participation processes and post-program linkages led to these positive evaluation results,” adding, “Next year, we will actively operate the program on a larger scale so that more young people can have opportunities to take on new challenges.”