Chungcheongbuk-do

Employment Rate Rises Through Innovative Job Programs Addressing Regional Depopulation, Including Urban Worker Projects On Tuesday the 30th, Chungcheongbuk-do announced that it had won the top national honor, the Presidential Award, at the 2025 National Local Government Job Awards hosted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor at the Cheongju Osco Grand Ballroom. This award ceremony, hosted annually since 2012, comprehensively evaluates the job creation policies of all 243 local governments and presents awards to the best-performing ones, making it Korea’s most representative event for recognizing regional employment efforts. Following the Special Award in 2023 and the Excellence Award in 2024, Chungcheongbuk-do has earned this honor for the third consecutive year. The province received high marks for the stable operation of its innovative employment programs―such as the “Urban Farmer” project linking idle labor to vacant jobs, which surpassed 200,000 participants annually, and the “Urban Worker” initiative, which exceeded 100,000. The governor’s strong commitment to job creation was also highly praised. Major accomplishments in 2024 include: creating 1,274 new jobs through the formation of strategic clusters for semiconductor investment and workforce training; improving labor market conditions by supporting 334 individuals across 33 companies through SME？large company cooperation; achieving the highest youth population ratio among metropolitan provinces; maintaining a total fertility rate of 0.88% through efforts to improve residential conditions to secure a sustainable working population; and alleviating labor shortages in urban and rural vacant job sectors, with 16 people transitioning to regular employment across 12 companies. As a result of these efforts, performance in “innovative job programs”―including the Urban Worker and Urban Farmer initiatives, which are tailored to local employment demands and demographic groups such as youth, women, and seniors―has remained strong. According to Statistics Korea’s August data, the province posted excellent employment figures: the second-highest employment rate nationwide at 73.7%, and the lowest unemployment rate at 0.8%. Employment Rate (ages 15？64): Chungbuk 73.7% / National Average 69.9% Jeju (74.3) > Chungbuk (73.7) > Chungnam = Gyeongbuk (71.3) > Gangwon (71.1) > Seoul (70.7) > Jeonnam (70.5) > Gyeonggi (70.3) Unemployment Rate (%): Chungbuk 0.8% / National Average 2.0% * Lower is better Chungbuk (0.8) > Jeju (1.3) > Ulsan = Gangwon = Gyeongnam (1.5) > Jeonbuk (1.6) > Chungnam (1.7) > Gyeongbuk (1.7) > Sejong (1.8) Governor Kim Young-hwan stated, “Chungcheongbuk-do has established a unique ‘Chungbuk-style working welfare model’ by linking idle urban labor with businesses and farms through innovative job creation projects like Urban Workers and Urban Farmers.” He added, “Today, Chungbuk is emerging as a central hub of growth where companies and people gather. Through continuous innovation in global high-tech industries and culture, we are opening a path to the future of Korea.”