The Ministry of Finance and Economy said Wednesday the government plans to expand youth intern hiring this year to 24,000, up 3,000 from last year. Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Koo Yun-cheol said the government will “actively support” young people so they can build job skills through public-sector experience and enter the labor market more smoothly.
The program was designed to strengthen job readiness through public-institution experience and shorten job searches. But as the program grows, complaints are rising that the internship often amounts to little more than “one line on a resume.”
Critics point to short terms and uneven job quality. Many internships last about four months, which participants say is too brief to learn professional skills. Pay and duties vary by institution, and work is often described as routine administrative support or basic upkeep rather than specialized tasks.
At the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the internship term is four months. Typical duties include drafting policy reports, analyzing materials and assisting with the ministry’s social media content. The program is structured as a short-term experience and does not lead to full-time conversion after the term ends. By contrast, the Korea Statistics Information Service offers a 10-month term and includes a review for possible conversion to full-time employment. It is seen as more skills-focused in statistics and data and as helpful for moves to private-sector big tech and consulting.
Because of these differences, internships at public institutions often do not translate into private-sector jobs, analysts say. The value of an internship certificate in the broader labor market is unclear, fueling concerns the program is becoming a closed track mainly for those already preparing for public-sector employment. That, in turn, can push interns to focus even more narrowly on landing public-institution jobs.
Experts say improving effectiveness will require more than expanding headcount. They call for a system that allows internship experience to be recognized as formal career experience in private-sector hiring and for institutionalized ways to reflect young people’s input from the program-design stage.
Lee Yoon-ju, a senior research fellow at the Korea Youth Policy Institute, said membership in a work-experience policy council should be broadened and that deeper policy alternatives should be developed through the Youth Policy Coordination Committee. She also said the duties of hired youth interns should be clearly defined by each central government agency.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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