Finance ministry to expand K-New Deal Academy fivefold next year

Finance Minister Lee Hyung-il said Monday the government will expand the K-New Deal Academy, its youth job-training program run with major companies, fivefold next year.

Lee, who also serves as deputy prime minister, made the remarks during a visit to Hanwha's Naeil Academy education center in Seoul, a site operated by Hanwha Systems, the finance ministry said. The program is built around vocational training designed and operated by large companies in fields specific to those firms. Hanwha Systems runs the academy's defense-sector courses at four locations, including the TOZ Shinchon Business Center, and ICT courses at two others, including the Hongdae campus. At the Seoul center, Lee observed a class on developing services based on AI agents.

The visit fell under the jobs pillar of the government's three core social policies and was aimed at boosting youth employment, the ministry said.

"K-New Deal Academy is a project in which the government and companies together lay a valuable stepping stone so that our young people, who face the most difficult employment conditions in memory, can take their first step into society," Lee said.

Under the expansion plan, the academy will grow to 50,000 trainees next year from 10,000 this year. The government also plans to create a separate Youth Playground program to support trainees after they finish their courses by linking them to employment and further training.

"We will work with the relevant ministries to expand K-New Deal Academy further so that more young people can have the practical, company-oriented training opportunities that businesses want, and we will also prepare measures so that trainees who take part go on to actual employment and can demonstrate their capabilities fully," Lee said.

Kwak Jong-woo, a Hanwha Systems vice president, said the academy would help young people gain hands-on experience planning and developing defense projects and AI agent services and build strong competitiveness in the job market.

"K-New Deal Academy is not just about providing education but about strengthening follow-up support for graduates' employment, and as the scale grows significantly next year, we will manage the results thoroughly," said Pyun Do-in, director-general of the Employment and Labor Ministry's vocational skills policy bureau.

Jeon Young-il, a 27-year-old trainee, said he decided to join the course because he believes that in the AX era, which capabilities a person builds matters more than simply landing a job.