The Financial Services Commission (Chairman Lee Eok-won) will more than double its youth support budget in 2027, raising it from roughly 870 billion won this year to about 2.1 trillion won, and will roll out six new and revamped programs across three areas: asset building, jobs, and housing. On September 21, the FSC held an event titled ‘A Preview of the 2027 FSC Youth Programs’ at the Hanyang Institute of Technology on Hanyang University’s Seoul campus, where it introduced these plans to young people.
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The event was organized to mark Youth Week (September 19–25) by publicizing the youth programs to be newly launched or revamped in 2027 and by hearing directly from young people. Attendees included FSC Chairman Lee Eok-won, the youth organization Youth Wallet Training Center, ordinary young people interested in the programs, and program operators such as the Korea Inclusive Finance Agency and the Korea Housing Finance Corporation.
In his opening remarks, Chairman Lee assessed that young people are facing difficulties in various areas, including employment and asset building, and pledged to significantly strengthen youth support in the three areas of asset building, jobs, and housing on the back of the expanded budget.
In the area of asset building, the Our Child Independence Fund will help young people begin their youth with seed money. Under this fund, a parent enrolls in the child’s name, and the parent and the government contribute together for medium- to long-term investment and management; from birth until age 18, the government adds either a flat 1.2 million won per year or matching support of up to 1 million won per year. Low-income households at or below 50 percent of median income receive a flat 1.2 million won per year, while households between 50 and 150 percent of median income receive matching support in proportion to the parent’s contributions. Assuming annual contributions of 2 million won over 19 years and a 6 percent annual return, the fund is expected to yield a lump sum of about 70 million won at maturity.
The Youth Future Savings program, which supports early asset building, will expand eligibility to all young people. The preferential government contribution will be raised from the current 12 percent to 15 percent, and to as much as 25 percent for employees of regional small and medium-sized enterprises. As a result, young people enrolled under the standard type can accumulate a lump sum of more than about 21 million won, while young people at regional SMEs can accumulate more than 25 million won. The FSC plans to work with relevant ministries and the National Assembly so that all participants can receive a tax exemption on interest income.
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In the area of jobs, the Youth Opportunity Fund and the financial innovation employment and startup support program will be newly established. The Youth Opportunity Fund will provide low-interest loans to unemployed people aged 19 to 34 with an annual income of 35 million won or less (excluding those enrolled in or on leave from universities and graduate schools), up to 5 million won per loan and 7.5 million won per year (with a lifetime cap of 20 million won). General unemployed borrowers will be charged 4 percent annual interest (with a separate 1 percentage point guarantee fee), while socially disadvantaged groups such as basic livelihood recipients and the near-poor, as well as unemployed young people with a high-school education, will receive an interest subsidy of 1.6 percentage points. In particular, young people preparing for employment can be exempted from interest payments during a grace period of up to eight years through a separate application and documentation, greatly reducing their repayment burden. The interest is paid to financial institutions by the government on their behalf.
The financial innovation employment and startup support program will invest 3 billion won in AI technology demonstration and matching for young fintech firms and 2 billion won in cultivating AI-tailored talent. Outstanding young fintech firms will receive testing environments and data-based verification, and firms that pass verification will be connected with financial companies to help commercialize their products. In the talent-development area, support will include specialized training courses reflecting corporate demand for about 1,000 people, internship linkages for about 100 people, and certification vouchers for about 600 people.
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In the area of housing, the range of choices will be broadened according to housing type and living arrangement. Young people hoping to buy an apartment will use the existing standard Bogeumjari Loan, while a new Youth Future Bogeumjari Loan will be created for young people looking to buy homes other than apartments, such as officetels. Supplied on a temporary basis for two years at a scale of 3 trillion won per year, this product will first be offered for non-apartment homes valued at 400 million won or less, and a revision of the Korea Housing Finance Corporation Act will also be pursued to include officetels among the eligible properties. For young people renting on a jeonse or monthly basis, a new Youth Jeonse-Monthly Rent Combined Guarantee that guarantees both jeonse and monthly rent loans will be created, supplied on a temporary basis for two years at a scale of 4.5 trillion won per year, with interest subsidies provided to young people in regional areas and those on low incomes.
The FSC decided to form a body tentatively named the Youth Financial Policy Advisory Group — comprising youth organizations, young people, program operators, and experts — to gather youth input throughout the entire process, from policy planning to implementation and evaluation.
In a policy talk following the program introduction, young people voiced their experiences on the ground. One young office worker said it was difficult to build up a lump sum because of the burden of living and housing costs, raising the need for universal asset-building support, while a young newlywed planning to have children stressed that a policy helping to build seed money for children is urgently needed at a time when parental leave reduces income and childcare costs rise. A young fintech founder requested government support, noting that it is hard to commercialize a business without opportunities to verify technology with real data and that hiring finance-specialized AI personnel is not easy, while a young job seeker described the reality of having to work part-time out of concern for living expenses and emphasized the need for support such as the Youth Opportunity Fund. Other opinions raised included the need to improve young people’s financial management capabilities and to promote awareness of the support programs more actively.
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Chairman Lee said, ‘This was a meaningful occasion to once again reflect on the various practical difficulties that you young people experience and on the direction that financial policy needs to take,’ adding, ‘Going forward, we will continue to listen to the voices of young people, prepare policies that they can tangibly feel, and actively promote them.’ After the event, the chairman visited Hanyang University’s value-investing society, ‘stockwars,’ to encourage the students and hear their views on financial life.
The FSC plans to reflect the opinions gathered that day in the detailed operating plans for the programs and to work to have the 2027 youth program budget passed by the National Assembly. Attention is now focused on whether these youth programs — with a budget doubled and spanning the entire life cycle from asset building to housing — will translate into changes that young people can actually feel at the implementation stage.
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