Gyeonggi Province Establishes 'Youth Day' as First Metropolitan Municipality

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun Reporter] Gyeonggi Province has become the first metropolitan municipality in the nation to designate May 24 annually as ‘Gyeonggi Youth Day’ and observe the occasion.

The province announced on the 30th that the ‘Gyeonggi Youth Day Ordinance’, initiated by lawmaker Jeong Dae-un, passed through the Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly plenary session on the 24th and is scheduled to be promulgated on the 15th of next month.

Currently, the 「Youth Basic Law」 designates May as Youth Month; however, it has failed to draw national attention as it is overshadowed by legal commemorative days such as Children's Day, Parents' Day, Teachers' Day, and Coming of Age Day.

In response, the province enacted the ordinance to designate and operate May 24 annually as ‘Youth Day’ at the provincial level, with the aim of fostering active and autonomous consciousness among youth and raising residents' awareness and interest in young people.

The ordinance provides for cultural and arts events related to the Youth Day ceremony and allows for exemption or discounts on admission fees and usage fees to various public facilities operated by the province for youth in the province during one week before and after Youth Day, thereby offering practical benefits to young people.

To this end, the province plans to gather opinions from youth in the province to develop Youth Day commemorative event programs and will hold the first Gyeonggi Youth Day ceremony in 2021 pursuant to the ordinance.

Additionally, the province will work in cooperation with provincial public institutions and public facilities operated by cities and counties to implement support for public facility admission fees.

Kim Neung-sik, Director of the Lifelong Education Bureau at Gyeonggi Province, said, “We hope that through the establishment of Gyeonggi Youth Day, youth participation and social awareness will be enhanced,” and added, “We will discover various projects so that Youth Day does not remain a formal commemorative occasion but becomes a day that youth can feel and experience.”