|
The government is considering giving incentives including benefits of military service to talented young men who participate in volunteer activities overseas,¡± Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said Wednesday. He promised the government will make efforts to train ¡°young global leaders." Han was speaking at a global youth leader training program held in Seoul that brought together representatives of business organizations and college students.
An official with the Office of the Prime Minister explained the office was ¡°discussing with relevant government agencies a law to shorten the military service for such volunteers, to help more volunteers benefit from military service exemption -- and to give extra incentive points to the volunteers when applying for jobs.¡± Currently, some 120 such volunteers are entitled to exemptions every year.
A plan to train 100,000 young global leaders -- 50,000 young men and women employed overseas, 30,000 participants in overseas internship programs, and 20,000 overseas volunteers -- for the next five years is to be finalized this month. ¡°This year, the government will train 10,000 young men and women so that they can find jobs overseas, and enterprises will provide them with more overseas internship programs,¡± the office promised.
The plan will include taking advantage of overseas branches of private enterprises, the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency and Korean embassies to find regions where young people can engage in volunteer activities; and developing programs linking enterprises with a "peace corps"-style organization of graduates and a "youth corps" consisting of college students.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
|
