Do not go gentle into that good night, old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light, though wise men at their end know dark is right, because their words had forked no lightning they, do not go gentle into that good night.
New tourism initiative aims to train 100 young job seekers
Shoppers walk past cosmetics stores and boutiques in Myeong-dong, a major retail hub in Seoul, June 24. Yonhap
By Jhoo Dong-chan
Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) are rolling out a nationwide job-training program this year to ease labor shortages in the tourism industry and connect young job seekers with stable employment.
The "2026 Industry-Linked Tourism Workforce Training Project" will provide 100 young job seekers with hands-on job training and internships, with the goal of leading to full-time hiring, the ministry said.
The program is run in partnership with tourism enterprise support centers — regional hubs that help local tourism businesses with consulting, funding and workforce needs — in eight regions: North Jeolla Province, Busan, Incheon, North Gyeongsang Province, South Gyeongsang Province, Gwangju, Daejeon and Sejong, and Ulsan.
Each region will run a three-stage program of job training, internships and full-time hiring tailored to local needs. In North Gyeongsang Province, the training will draw on lessons from the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit held in Gyeongju and will place interns with local luxury hotels.
In North Jeolla Province, the center will pair each intern with a designated mentor and offer one-on-one job counseling. In Daejeon and Sejong, training will be tied to a regional tourism jobs fair.
To ease costs for participating businesses and encourage hiring, the ministry will subsidize each intern's wages during the three-month internship at a rate based on Korea's 2026 minimum wage, or about 2.16 million won per month — roughly $1,440 at current exchange rates.
Companies that hire an intern full-time after the program ends will receive an additional retention incentive of 600,000 won ($400) per month for three months, totaling 1.8 million won, or roughly $1,200.
Kang Dong-jin, the ministry's director-general for tourism policy, said the program goes beyond simple workforce support, aiming to train talent tailored to what regional tourism businesses need while giving young people access to stable jobs.
He said the ministry would keep building a cycle connecting hands-on training, internships, hiring and long-term settlement in regional tourism jobs.
Details on the program are available on the websites of the regional tourism enterprise support centers. The ministry said schedules and plans may change depending on conditions at each center.
This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.