Gyeonggi Province marked the start of the “2026 Gyeonggi Youth Overseas Employment and Entrepreneurship Opportunity Expansion Project (Gyeongcheong Stars)” on May 28 with a ceremony at the Gwanggyo Hall of the Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator.

As Gyeonggi Province’s flagship global program for young people, the Gyeongcheong Stars project helps participants build employment and entrepreneurship competency through firsthand experience at overseas industrial sites. A total of 624 applicants applied this year for an average competition rate of 6.2:1, with 100 participants selected.

This year’s destinations span 12 cities in 12 countries: Japan (Tokyo), United Kingdom (London), Canada (Toronto), Singapore, Poland (Warsaw), Türkiye (Istanbul), Indonesia (Jakarta), India (Bengaluru), Uzbekistan (Tashkent), China (Chongqing), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), and Kyrgyzstan (Bishkek).

The 100 young participants selected will take part in a 4-week program tailored to each destination. Activities include practical training in local languages, mentoring, job training, trade marketing practice at Korean companies abroad, and participation in overseas exhibitions.

The opening ceremony saw participants taking part in “Between the Stars,” a talk program featuring young people who joined the project last year. They shared firsthand experiences, preparation tips, and other practical insights. The event also included “Star Golden Bell” with Vice Governor for Economy An Jeong-gon, open-question mentoring, sentence-completion games, and other activities designed to encourage open conversation.

The venue even included a kiosk where participants could create luggage stickers featuring their own faces, a DIY name-tag zone, a photo zone, and a message-wall lounge. The spaces helped promote the project while giving participants a stronger sense of belonging.

“As young people continue to face a difficult employment environment, I hope this project becomes more than a simple overseas experience. May each participant discover new possibilities and future career paths,” Gyeonggi Province Vice Governor for Economy An Jeong-gon said at the opening ceremony. According to him, Gyeonggi Province will continue supporting young people actively as they take on global challenges and expanding opportunities for them to grow in global markets.

After the ceremony, Gyeonggi Province and the Gyeonggido Business & Science Accelerator will hold a three-day preliminary training program covering overseas safety rules, global business etiquette, and related topics. Full overseas experience programs are scheduled to begin on June 29 in line with each destination’s schedule.

Last year, 198 young people spent 4 weeks gaining hands-on experience at companies in 14 cities across 13 countries. The first round ran from July to August with 100 participants, followed by a second round in November with 98 participants.

Gyeonggi Province announced on May 25 that it held the “2026 K-Food Export Consultation Meeting” at the Novotel Ambassador Suwon on May 21. The event arranged one-on-one export consultations between small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Gyeonggi Province and buyers from three Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

The consultation meeting was designed to provide exporting SMEs with direct access to export consultation services, focusing on opening practical overseas sales channels for K-Food products.

Driven by the global reach of the Korean Wave, K-Food is becoming part of mainstream food culture worldwide with exports continuing to grow steadily. The category is also well-suited for overseas expansion considering the less burdensome certification and regulatory requirements compared to other sectors.

The CIS food market has strong growth potential, but individual companies often struggle to enter the market on their own due to limited access to local buyer information and networks. This necessitates provincial export consultation support to help companies gain a foothold in the market.
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The meeting brought together 60 SMEs in Gyeonggi Province’s K-Food sector, including companies specializing in ramen, gim, snacks, and various home meal replacement products. A total of 31 buyers from 3 countries including Russia, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan also took part.

As a result, 195 consultations led to USD 53.57 million in export consultation outcomes with 190 prospective contracts worth USD 20.07 million.

With buyers showing strong interest in K-Food products, three MOUs were signed on-site.

Daesan Food signed the largest of the three MOUs with Russian snack distributor Lanix-M. The export MOU is worth USD 300,000, centering on Daesan Food’s snack and confectionery products from Gyeonggi Province. Lanix-M gave high marks to Daesan Food’s strong taste, quality, and price competitiveness. The company was especially interested in Daesan Food’s ability to adjust product design and specifications based on buyer needs. Through Lanix-M’s Korea branch, both sides agreed to begin product sample testing quickly and continue detailed discussions toward signing a contract.

Another export MOU came from Good Habit, with the Gyeonggi Province-based health food company signing a USD 30,000 MOU with Kazakh distributor Collagen kz. Collagen kz responded positively to the quality of Good Habit’s main product kombucha and halal certification. Both sides agreed to continue detailed discussions based on local market response, with plans to increase the transaction volume.

Based on the results from the consultation meeting, Gyeonggi Province plans to select approximately 10 outstanding companies and support additional buyer consultations through on-site visits to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan around September. Many companies that applied for the consultation meeting had expressed interest in visiting local markets.

“We hope this consultation meeting will help K-Food companies in Gyeonggi Province achieve tangible export results and enter markets in the CIS region,” said Park Gyeong-seo, Director of Gyeonggi Province’s International Trade Division, adding, “Gyeonggi Province will continue arranging consultations with local buyers from various countries and provide full support as companies in the province expand overseas sales channels.”

Gyeonggi Province held the first meeting of the Gyeonggi Province Refugee Support Policy Advisory Committee on June 18 at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Northern Complex in Uijeongbu. The meeting covered future committee operations and policy directions.

As the first deliberative and advisory body of its kind formed by a local government, the Gyeonggi Province Refugee Support Policy Advisory Committee was established to review refugee-related policies more systematically and prepare ways for refugees to settle smoothly in local communities.

Ten members serve on the committee, including Director General Kim Won-kyu of Gyeonggi Province’s Immigration Society Bureau as an ex officio member. Other members include Gyeonggi Provincial Assembly members, legal and academic experts, relevant agencies, civil society and field specialists, migrants, and refugees. The committee will deliberate and advise on matters including the establishment, revision, evaluation, and improvement of basic plans, feasibility of refugee support projects, operation of refugee support facilities, and criteria for identifying people in refugee-like circumstances.

The first part of the event featured an appointment ceremony. The first committee meeting followed, with members electing a chair and a vice chair, discussing the background of the committee’s establishment, and reviewing future operations and policy directions.

As of 2025, 16,408 of the 46,786 refugees in Korea live in Gyeonggi Province. This accounts for 35.1% of the national total, the highest share among metropolitan and provincial governments. Within Gyeonggi Province, large numbers of refugees live in cities such as Ansan, Pyeongtaek, Hwaseong, and Pocheon.

“If refugees face social isolation or poverty, the situation may lead to broader instability and conflict in local communities. Reasonable policy support is needed to prevent conflict in advance and strengthen community cohesion,” said Kim Won-kyu, Director General of Gyeonggi Province’s Immigration Society Bureau, adding, “Based on voices from the field and expert opinions, we will continue discussing policy directions that residents can support.”

On May 13, Gyeonggi Province announced the selection of seven organizations for its “2026 Migrant Worker Shelter Improvement Support Project,” aimed at improving the living stability of migrant workers.

The project goes beyond basic facility repairs by improving living, safety, and hygiene conditions at migrant worker shelters operated by nonprofit and civic organizations throughout the province.

Each shelter will receive up to KRW 10 million. Support includes improvements to aging electrical systems and other potential fire hazards, repairs to flooring, wallpaper, toilets, and kitchen facilities, quarantine and disinfection services, and partial support for food expenses.

Following an open call for applications in March, seven organizations were selected through administrative reviews, on-site inspections, and deliberation by Gyeonggi Province’s Local Subsidy Review Committee. The project runs from May to December. Since launching the program in 2021, the province has supported 48 facility improvement projects for 23 organizations through 2025.
 

○ Expanding international cooperation networks through reciprocal exchanges, including a visit to Poland in August

The Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute is conducting the “2026 Gyeonggi Province Training Program for Officials from Poland’s Lower Silesian Voivodeship” from May 9 to 22.

The program focuses on “Balanced Regional Development through Culture and Creative Industries” and is part of a reciprocal civil servant exchange program established under agreements between the two regions. The program seeks to build on last year’s inaugural exchange and expand policy dialogue and practical cooperation between the two regions. Jarosław Rabczenko, Executive Board Member of the Lower Silesian Regional Assembly, attended this year’s opening ceremony and expressed his commitment to strengthening intergovernmental partnership and policy coordination between the two regions.

The program focuses on strengthening practical policy and administrative capabilities. Participants will attend expert lectures on: the role of local governments in the era of artificial intelligence and digital transformation; strategies to expand cultural accessibility through digital content; and successful examples of K-content-led creative industries. They will also visit institutions such as the Gyeonggi Content Agency and the Gyeonggi Museum of Contemporary Ceramic Art to observe the province’s creative industry support and development system firsthand, and review exemplary policy cases in which natural assets, such as Gwangmyeong Cave and the Jeju Olle Trail, were transformed into drivers of urban regeneration and tourism.

The program also includes visits to Hwaseong Haenggung Palace, the DMZ, and Gyeongbokgung Palace to experience Korean history and culture, thereby fostering mutual understanding between the two regions. Based on the outcomes of this program, Gyeonggi Province plans to further develop a sustainable framework for long-term international policy cooperation, linked to future training programs in Poland.

Ho Mi-ja, Head of the Education Support Division at the Gyeonggi Human Resources Development Institute, stated, “With this program serving as an important starting point for full-scale policy exchange between our regions,” adding, “We will continue to expand cooperation and develop substantive programs that lead to tangible policy outcomes.”

“Residents with migrant backgrounds” refers to foreigners, naturalized citizens, and their family members living in Gyeonggi Province regardless of nationality or length of stay.
Conducted under the “Gyeonggi Province Ordinance on the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination and the Protection of Human Rights for Residents with Migrant Backgrounds,” the first such ordinance enacted by a local government in Korea, the study is overseen by the Gyeonggi Migrant Integration Support Center.

The study will involve 400 long-term immigrant residents aged 19 or older who live or work in Gyeonggi Province, along with naturalized citizens. Through August, the province will conduct literature reviews, surveys, in-depth interviews, and expert consultations to comprehensively analyze migrants’ experiences and the structural factors underlying discrimination.

Based on the findings, the province plans to develop a policy response framework covering prevention measures, response systems, and public awareness initiatives related to discrimination. Main initiatives include: building core data for the establishment of Gyeonggi Province’s Basic Plan for the Prohibition of Racial Discrimination and Human Rights Protection; producing a practical “Manual for the Prevention and Response to Racial Discrimination”; and developing educational and public outreach initiatives to improve human rights awareness.

The province will establish a research framework and database to strengthen policy continuity and expertise. In the long term, the findings will support proactive integration policies aimed at preventing social conflict.

Yoon Hyeon-ok, Director of the Gyeonggi Province Migrant Social Policy Division, stated, “Based on the study findings, we will develop policies that can be effectively implemented in real-world settings and work toward achieving sustainable social integration in which all residents are respected.”

On May 6, the Gyeonggi Migrant Integration Support Center will hold an online kickoff meeting involving migrants, experts, and researchers to discuss the survey design, methodology, and plans for utilizing the findings.

Gyeonggi Province announced on April 30 that it is conducting year-round on-site virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered safety training for foreign workers in the province who are exposed to the risk of industrial disasters due to language barriers and limited access to training opportunities.

Foreign workers often find it difficult to receive systematic occupational safety training despite working in high-risk environments. They also face challenges attending external group training sessions during the workweek due to workplace constraints. Moreover, workers of different nationalities face language barriers since the programs are conducted in Korean.

To overcome these limitations, Gyeonggi Province has adopted a customized program that combines on-site training with non-verbal communication methods.

The training incorporates VR devices to allow workers to experience four to five major risk scenarios that could occur at manufacturing sites. Afterward, workers are provided with visual explanations of the causes of accidents and examples of non-compliance with safety regulations to facilitate intuitive understanding without language barriers.

For mandatory lecture-style training, AI-based simultaneous interpretation enables foreign workers to participate in real time in their native languages.

Following the session, a “Call by Name” campaign is conducted to encourage colleagues to address each other by name. Labels bearing workers’ names in Korean are affixed to their safety helmets. This initiative focuses on enhancing foreign workers’ sense of belonging and fostering a culture of mutual respect.

To date, two on-site training sessions have been held, including one at a workplace in Hwaseong City on April 27. Officials from the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which oversees the project, were present at the Hwaseong site to assess the project’s performance incorporating VR and AI technologies. One foreign worker who completed the training said it was highly beneficial and that the VR training helped them clearly understand the risks associated with violating safety rules.

Businesses wishing to provide safety training for foreign workers may apply via the website (경기지중해.kr) or email (ggsafety@safety.or.kr). Applicants will receive on-site training on a rolling basis after schedule consultations.
Gyeonggi Province plans to continue expanding its occupational safety policies, including providing intensive support to those vulnerable to serious industrial accidents, such as foreign workers and small-scale workplaces.