[Seminar] Young People Want to Work: The Reality of the Youth Employment Cliff and Solutions

This seminar, co-hosted by the Center for Free Enterprise (CFE) and member of the National Assembly Sooyoung Park, examined the issue of youth employment from the perspectives of labor market entry, settlement, and career mobility. Taehee Oh, a professor at the University of Incheon, categorized young people who are economically inactive by type and proposed tailored support suited to their circumstances. He emphasized that not only wages but also working conditions should be improved, and that support is needed to help young people re-enter the labor market after failure. The discussion that followed covered labor market rigidity, the limitations of subsidy-centered policies, and the decline in hiring resulting from the AI transition. The seminar concluded successfully as a venue for seeking realistic solutions to support young people’s stable entry into the labor market and their continued growth.

Thank you to everyone who attended.

◇ Date and Time: Thursday, July 23, 2026, 9:30 a.m.

◇ Venue: Conference Room No. 10, Members’ Office Building, National Assembly

◇ Hosts: Sooyoung Park, member of the National Assembly; Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

▶ Moderator

- Seunggil Lee, Head of the Future Labor Reform Forum

▶ Presentation

- Taehee Oh, Professor, Department of Economics, University of Incheon

▶ Discussion

- Siyoung Song, Chair, Right Labor Union, Seoul Metro

- Hyeonho Cho, Co-Representative, Youth Action for Labor Reform

- Jiwoon Jeong, Senior Research Fellow, Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training

- Changbae Kim, Secretary-General, Open Society Forum

▶ Participating Members of the National Assembly

- Sooyoung Park

- Seonyeong Kang

- Kihyeon Kim

- Jiyoung Seo

- Sanghwi Lee

- Jongwook Lee

- Baesook Cho

---

Original title: [세미나] 청년은 일하고 싶다 - 청년 고용절벽의 현실과 해법-

Author: Center for Free Enterprise (CFE)

Date: 2026-07-23

Source: https://www.cfe.org/bbs/bbsDetail.php?cid=seminar&pn=1&idx=29307