39 Yongin Youth Public Interns Gain 8 Months of Hands-On Experience: "I Found My Aptitude and Career Path"

Hands-on Experience at City Hall and District Offices
Results-Sharing Meeting Held; Outstanding Interns Honored

Hong Yuchan, 28, from Yeokbuk-dong, Cheoin-gu, Yongin, had been preparing for a job at a public corporation when he found a new career path after applying for Yongin Special City’s youth public intern program this year. Assigned to the city’s Public Relations Office in March, he helped produce and distribute videos promoting city policies through October. As he traveled around Yongin and worked on site, he realized that fieldwork suited him and changed his career plans to focus on communicating with residents in service of the local community.

Yongin Special City held a performance report meeting for its youth public interns on the 30th of last month. Photo provided by Yongin City.

Yongin Special City Mayor Lee Sang-il announced on November 1 that the 39 young people who took part in this year’s youth public intern program had completed eight months of activities.

On October 30, the city held the “2026 Youth Public Intern Program Results Sharing Meeting” in the international conference room at the Yongin Culture and Arts Center in Samga-dong, Cheoin-gu. Participants shared the results of their work, and outstanding interns received awards.

The youth public intern program gives young people preparing to enter the workforce opportunities to gain hands-on experience at public institutions and explore a range of jobs. Yongin has operated the program since 2017. This year, 278 young people applied, resulting in 6.6 applicants per opening.

Over the past eight months, participants were assigned to City Hall, the three district offices, city administrative bodies and affiliated organizations, and partner institutions, where they provided departmental support for eight hours a day. This year, the city paid them Yongin’s living wage of 11,930 won per hour.

At the results sharing meeting, three outstanding interns, including Hong, presented projects they had completed during their internships, including analyses of local businesses, career exploration reports, and personal accounts of their experiences. The city plans to post the outstanding projects on its youth portal, “Youth e-rang,” where they will be available to the public.

Hong Yuchan, selected as an outstanding youth public-sector intern by Yongin Special City. Provided by Yongin City.

Yongin also introduced youth support programs in areas including housing, welfare, and employment. The programs are intended to help young people access the support they need as they finish their internships and prepare to enter society.

A city official said, “We hope this was an opportunity for young people to reflect on what they gained from their internships and encourage one another in their endeavors,” adding, “We will develop a range of policies to help them prepare for employment.”

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