Learn AI in Depopulation Areas and Get 'Four Times' the Allowance, but 75% of Institutions Are in the Seoul Metropolitan Area [Labor Budget Deep Dive (4)]

Planning Ministry allocates KRW 608.9 billion to Labor Ministry's KDT program

Starting next year, the government will pay job seekers participating in advanced and digital vocational training, including artificial intelligence (AI) courses, allowances that vary by region and can be up to four times higher in some areas. The aim is to increase participation in training in regions where educational opportunities are more limited than in the Seoul metropolitan area. However, critics say allowances alone will do little to expand educational opportunities for job seekers outside the capital region, since 74.7% of training institutions and 86.2% of trainees are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. There are only four training institutions nationwide in depopulation areas, where trainees are eligible for the highest allowances.

Training allowances outside the capital region to vary by up to four times

According to the National Assembly Budget Office's "Analysis of the 2027 Budget Proposal by Committee," released on November 11, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has allocated KRW 725.62 billion to the "National Tomorrow Learning Card (General)" program. The largest component is the "Training for Advanced Industry and Digital Core Practical Talent (K-Digital Training, or KDT)" program, which develops talent in new digital technologies. Its budget for next year is KRW 608.926 billion, up 16.8% (KRW 87.613 billion) from this year's initial budget of KRW 521.313 billion. As part of its overhaul of the KDT program next year, the ministry will provide special training allowances at different rates depending on the region. The goal is to expand advanced and digital training, which is concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, to other regions and encourage job seekers outside the capital region to participate.

For AI training courses, trainees will receive KRW 200,000 per month at institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area, KRW 500,000 outside the capital region, and up to KRW 800,000 in depopulation areas. In other words, trainees in depopulation areas will receive four times as much as those in the Seoul metropolitan area. Allowances for training courses run by leading private-sector companies will also vary by region: KRW 100,000 in the Seoul metropolitan area, KRW 300,000 outside the capital region, and KRW 500,000 in depopulation areas.

74% of training institutions and 86% of trainees concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area... Limited training options outside the capital region

The problem is that there are far too few institutions where job seekers outside the capital region can actually receive training. According to the National Assembly Budget Office, as of August this year, 74.7% (148) of the 198 KDT training institutions nationwide were concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Just 46 (23.2%) were outside the capital region, while only four (2.0%) were in depopulation areas, where trainees qualify for the highest allowances. The share of KDT institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area fell from 72.8% in 2024 to 68.8% in 2025, but rose again this year. The concentration in the capital region has worsened even as the educational infrastructure outside the region has yet to expand sufficiently.

Trainees are also concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area. Of the 18,828 people who had participated in KDT through August this year, 86.2% (16,231) received training at institutions in the Seoul metropolitan area. Only 2,448 trainees (13.0%) were outside the capital region, and just 149 (0.8%) were in depopulation areas, less than 1%. Last year, too, there were only 276 trainees (0.6%) in depopulation areas.

"Expanding local training institutions should come before increasing allowances"

The National Assembly Budget Office said it supported the aim of varying allowances by region, but stressed that the necessary infrastructure for people to receive training must be put in place first. No matter how large the allowances are, they are unlikely to attract job seekers outside the capital region if there are no nearby training institutions or if the courses they want are not offered. Jeong Han-seul, a budget analyst at the office, said, "Unless an environment is first established in which job seekers in areas outside the capital region and in depopulation areas can actually receive training, it will be difficult to achieve the intended policy effects of varying allowances by region." Jeong recommended that measures to expand on-the-ground infrastructure, such as providing incentives to educational institutions that establish advanced training courses outside the capital region, should come first.

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