Seoul Mayor Oh Sehoon’s 22.5 Billion Won ‘Youth AI Project’ to Be Reflected in Next Year’s Budget Plan

Blocked by Democratic Party Opposition... Supplementary Budget Fails to Pass
People Power Party: "We Will Secure Budget in Next Year's Main Review"
Experts and Officials Discuss Ways to Improve AI Support Policy

The budget for youth artificial intelligence (AI) support policies, which was entirely cut from Seoul’s supplementary budget this year, is now expected to be included in the city’s main budget plan for next year.

The People Power Party at the Seoul Metropolitan Council announced on October 2, “We will significantly enhance the quality of our AI support projects and secure the related budget during the main year-end review so that we can firmly support the future of Seoul’s youth.”

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon

On the same day, Seoul city council members from the People Power Party held a forum at the city council titled “Broken AI Ladder: Emergency Diagnosis of the Youth Crisis and Policy Solutions,” reaffirming the necessity of youth AI support policies. This forum was convened to explore concrete policy improvements ahead of the main budget review at the end of the year.

The event was attended by Kil Young Kim, the People Power Party leader at the Seoul Metropolitan Council and host of the event; Dongjin Koh, National Assembly member; Seongbae Lee, Vice Chairperson of the Seoul Metropolitan Council; Kwangmin Koh, Chair of the Urban Planning and Balance Committee; and Cheolgyu Hwang, Chair of the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee.

Last month, the city government tried to implement the Youth AI Ladder support project—which aimed to provide generative AI user accounts and related services for 500,000 young people over three months, with a budget of 5.6 billion won—as a supplementary project. However, the initiative failed to pass the city council due to opposition from the majority-holding Democratic Party. If this project is reflected in next year's main budget and implemented for a full year, it is expected to require around 22.5 billion won.

Kil Young Kim criticized, “Nearly 70% of corporate recruitment now requires AI proficiency, and the burden of paid service fees is immediately translating into opportunity gaps among social classes. The Democratic Party’s complete budget cut is an unjustified obstruction that has deprived young people of a golden opportunity.”

He continued, “There should be no partisan lines when it comes to youth policy, so based on the insights of experts and youth themselves, we will ensure the proper implementation of the Youth AI Ladder project during the main budget review at the end of the year.”

Seoul City Council members affiliated with the People Power Party and experts held a discussion on the 2nd at the City Council to explore the direction of youth AI support policies such as the "Youth AI Ladder" and are taking a commemorative photo. Provided by the People Power Party Office at Seoul City Council

At the forum, participants from academia, startups, youth representatives, and the city council discussed specific directions for improving youth AI support policies.

Kangho Bong, Senior Researcher at the Software Policy & Research Institute, and Jungho Park, professor at Yonsei University, both serving as keynote speakers, diagnosed how AI adoption is raising the bar for young people’s entry into the job market. They agreed on the urgency of moving beyond courses focused solely on classroom learning to the public provision of “paid AI access regardless of economic standing,” and the need to design public growth pathways centered on “practical experience connected to real-world projects.”

University student Donghyeon Lee commented, “A paid subscription fee of around 30,000 won per month is a significant barrier for students, and lower-performing AI tools pose a higher risk of incorrect answers for beginners, making them less useful. Public authorities must guarantee access to world-class AI models for young people.”

Min Ki Kim, professor at KAIST, and Jooyeon Jung, Senior Expert at Startup Alliance, suggested transforming all of Seoul into an “AX (AI Transformation) practice ground,” proposing a platform model that matches startups’ real-world challenges with the AI skills of youth. Kiheon Lee, professor at Yonsei University, proposed education focused on “Human-AI Thinking,” emphasizing ethical judgment and role allocation for each task.

Dohee Lee, city council member and Vice Chairperson of the Urban Planning and Balance Committee, stated, “Considering the speed of technological advancement, delays in policy ultimately harm young people. We will carefully address the deficiencies pointed out during the supplementary budget review and ensure that the Youth AI Ladder project is included in the 2027 main budget.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.