Daejeon cuts marriage grant for young couples from 5 million to 3 million won
Daejeon City has decided to reduce its marriage grant for young couples from 5 million won to 3 million won per household starting next year amid financial difficulties. According to the city on the 24th, the city's Youth Policy Division recently reported at a pledge review briefing hosted by the Planning and Coordination Office that it would not reflect Mayor Hur Tae-jung's pledge of a 'Daejeon-style youth basic income' in next year's main budget. During his candidacy, Mayor Hur promised to pay an annual basic income of 1 million won to young people through the local currency 'Ontact Daejeon,' but the city's own review found that even limiting eligibility to those aged 29 alone would cost 20 billion won annually. The head of the city's Youth Support Team explained, "The policy's effectiveness relative to the financial input is questionable, and depending on how the age range is set, a astronomical budget is expected. There are also policy equity issues, such as disputes over differential treatment by age, so it has been classified as a sunset program." Starting next year, the marriage grant per household will be reduced from a total of 5 million won—2.5 million won per person—to 3 million won.
The future of the city's nationwide first open recruitment for a Nospec-style 'Youth Special Advisor' also remains uncertain. Last month, the city recruited a Youth Special Advisor with a special local appointment at Grade 5, with an annual salary of about 70 million won, but no qualified candidate was found and the hiring fell through. Forty-seven people applied for the position, which had no restrictions on education or career background, and five were shortlisted through document screening. However, in the second-round interview, conducted as a policy proposal presentation, the candidates were judged to fall short of the evaluation criteria, and the posting was ultimately announced as 'no successful applicant.' The head of the city's Youth Policy Team said, "Because this was the first hiring process conducted in a Nospec-style format, there were many applicants, but none presented concrete plans for how to advance youth policy, so we heard that the external judges had difficulty evaluating them." He added, "We are considering various options, including whether to re-recruit or to hire again with certain qualification requirements in place."
Daejeon City has decided to pursue the 'First Daejeon Youth Assembly,' composed of 100 youth members, as a core youth policy program. The plan is to create a governance structure in which young people lead the entire process from policy establishment to implementation and evaluation. However, the city and city council have operated youth assemblies before, in 2018 and 2019. Regarding this, the Youth Policy Team chief said, "Going beyond simply having young people make policy suggestions, they will play a leading role by directly designing budgets and even monitoring them through the youth participatory budget program. We will operate it as a standing body rather than a one-time participation event, and incorporate the voices of young people."
