Seoul Metropolitan Council member Oh Joong-seok of the Democratic Party of Korea, representing Dongdaemun District 2, said on the 28th that the Seoul Youth Facility Association held its founding ceremony at the council's second conference room, marking the official launch of a group intended to support young people in the city.
The association was created to promote exchange and cooperation among youth centers and youth spaces across Seoul, to establish itself as a delivery channel for youth policy, and to protect the rights of workers at those facilities.
Attendees included Seoul Metropolitan Council Speaker Lim Man-gyun, G3 Seoul Planning Committee Chairman Kim Byung-min, and directors of the Seoul Metropolitan Youth Center and district-level Seoul youth centers.
The ceremony opened with a welcome reception, followed by a national salute, welcoming remarks, congratulatory addresses, a progress report, and the reading of the founding declaration and vision statement. Participants voiced broad agreement on the direction such facilities should take to improve the quality of life for young people.
Oh, who organized the event, is regarded as a leading figure behind the development of Seoul's youth policy. During the seventh popularly elected local government, Oh led the enactment of a youth startup ordinance aimed at supporting young people willing to take risks without fear of failure.
Oh is now working with council members Park Hee-jung and Ham Dae-gun on a youth facility ordinance intended to secure stable operation of the facilities and improve working conditions for the youth support managers employed there.
"I sincerely congratulate the Seoul Youth Facility Association on its meaningful founding," Oh said in a congratulatory address. "I will spare no effort at the council level to deliver tangible support and better working conditions that can be felt by the frontline staff devoted to youth policy."
The newly launched association plans to pursue joint projects including advisory work and policy proposals on youth facilities, training and education for staff, and surveys and research on youth policy, with the aim of raising the quality of Seoul's youth policy.
