Gunsan City launches youth employment savings program

Gunsan City and the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) have signed a memorandum of understanding to launch the ‘Youth Employee Collaborative Tomorrow Fill Mutual Aid’ project. The initiative aims to prevent youth outflow to the Seoul metropolitan area and encourage long-term employment at local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

Under the program, eligible employees aged 39 or younger at SMEs with three or more employees in Gunsan will contribute 100,000 KRW monthly. To this, the employer contributes 80,000 KRW, KOSME contributes 80,000 KRW, and Gunsan City contributes 100,000 KRW, totaling a monthly deposit of 360,000 KRW. Upon completion of the three-year term, the worker will receive approximately 12.96 million KRW, which is roughly 3.6 times their total personal contribution, plus interest.

The program comes as the region prepares for significant industrial shifts, including Hyundai Motor Group’s planned 9 trillion KRW investment in the Saemangeum area and the potential restart of operations at the Gunsan Shipyard. Local authorities hope the scheme will help bridge the labor gap between large corporations and local SMEs while supporting the economic settlement of young workers in the region.