Three deliberation agendas set for 2026

South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Thursday that the government will begin three public deliberation initiatives in 2026 to prevent or ease policy conflict and support decision-making through social dialogue. The agenda selection and implementation structure were completed after two rounds of review by the Public Conflict Deliberation Steering Committee.

The selected topics are a basic-society debate prompted by the transition to artificial intelligence, intergenerational coexistence and lifelong jobs, and an "Everyone's Forum" for policy issues closely tied to daily life. On AI, citizens and specialists will aim to set a social vision and policy direction that protects basic rights during the transition and distributes the benefits of AI growth broadly. They will consider income support and basic services, jobs and future work, financing and redistribution, and universal AI use, while weighing growth potential against inequality risks. Sessions run from September through October, with a policy-agenda proposal scheduled for early November.

The Economic, Social and Labor Council's Special Committee on Population Change and Jobs will hold discussions in four stages through November, combining dialogue among labor, business and government with citizen participation to consider older workers, young people's entry into the labor market and employment gaps over working lives. The resulting citizen proposals will feed into discussions involving labor, business, government and other stakeholders on policy and institutional changes. "Population changes caused by low birth rates and aging are reducing the working-age population while increasing the older workforce, and the resulting job problem is directly connected to people's lives," said Kim Ji-hyung, chair of the special committee.

The Everyone's Forum will complete an initial operating phase by August before periodically identifying topics from daily life for discussions on policy improvements. Results from all three agendas will be consolidated into policy recommendations by year-end and finalized after the steering committee's review.

Kang Young-jin, chair of the Public Conflict Deliberation Steering Committee, said the steering committee would "serve as a platform for communication to advance deliberative democracy" and help establish and spread a Korean model of public deliberation.