Interior Ministry opens public debate on social isolation

The interior ministry said it will recruit 150 citizens to take part in a public forum on social isolation, joining the welfare ministry for an event on Nov. 26 at KINTEX in Ilsan that will trade the usual for-and-against format for an exchange of policy ideas.

The fourth "Everyone's Debate" will run under the theme of finding ways to reconnect people who have become socially isolated, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said. The government said it wants the forum to produce practical models for new relationship networks rather than only welfare support.

Applications open Oct. 29 and run through Nov. 13, with places filled through a public sign-up on the ministry's website and on "Everyone's Plaza," the government's online public communication channel. Participants will be given background material to study in advance before working through the issue with experts on site.

Unlike earlier editions, which mainly sought public support or opposition on day-to-day policies, experts will open with presentations, followed by small-group discussions and an open floor session, and citizens will draft policy proposals of their own before a show-of-support vote picks the representative ideas.

An online comment period will run alongside the recruitment so that anyone, not only those attending, can submit views on social isolation through Everyone's Plaza; those submissions will be shared at the on-site debate.

The forum is being held in connection with the 2026 Korea Government Innovation Expo, which runs from Nov. 25 to 27. Ideas gathered at the event will be used as groundwork for government policy on social isolation, the ministry said.