Seoul Youth Culture Pass worth 200,000 won per person to be released

Participants in the Seoul Youth Culture Pass Supporters Orientation in October are doing group activities. Courtesy of Seoul Metropolitan Government

Every year, during the College Scholastic Ability Test and high school graduation season, local governments offer a variety of support events and special offers. Some of these benefits are available regardless of whether you are taking the CSAT, graduating, or entering a college.

“Seoul Youth Culture Pass,” which is being provided by the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is one of the most popular local government cultural benefits for young people after high school graduation. According to the Seoul city on November 13, next year's Seoul Youth Culture Pass will be available from the ones who were born in 2005. They are eligible for the application.

The Seoul Youth Culture Pass is a program that provides young adults aged 20 to 23 living in Seoul with a cultural voucher (card) worth 200,000 won per year to support their visit to the performing arts. It was introduced by the Seoul Metropolitan Government in 2023 as the first program of its kind in Korea, with the goal of providing young people with a variety of cultural experience opportunities and revitalizing the cultural industry as a whole. Any young adult who earns 150 percent or less of the median income based on health insurance premiums can apply. If selected, applicants will be able to purchase cultural passes to attend performances and exhibitions, including theater, musicals, classical music, Korean traditional music, and dance registered on the Seoul Youth Culture Pass (youthcultureseoul.kr).

This year, the Seoul Metropolitan Government accepted applications for the Seoul Youth Culture Pass twice, in March and August. In March, the first round of applications exceeded the capacity of 30,000 people, so the second round was held in August, and an additional 10,000 people were selected and given cultural passes. User satisfaction is very high. Ninety percent of users said that the program “helped them in their cultural life,” and 87 percent said that it “helped ease their financial burden.” A university student, Mr. A, said, “The culture pass is one of the ‘hot items,’ as many of my friends who have received the culture pass get together to watch a play together.”

The benefits of the Seoul Youth Culture Pass can be experienced indirectly through various 'tips' introduced by the users of the program. The city has been operating the Seoul Youth Culture Pass Supporters since last month. The supporters, who are composed of experienced Seoul Youth Culture Pass users, are responsible for publicizing the policy and benefits through various contents. The recruitment of supporters attracted more than 200 applicants in September. “We originally planned to recruit only 12 supporters, but taking the high level of interest into consideration, we expanded the number to 20,” said a city official.

Supporters will be paid a small fee for their activities and will be issued an activity certificate after completing their official activities. Supporters are expected to create and post content related to the Seoul Youth Culture Pass using their own blogs, Instagram, YouTube, TikTok, and other social media.

On October 19, an orientation session was held at the Daehakro Center of the Seoul Cultural Foundation. Center before the full-fledged supporters' activities. The supporters were organized into groups for each performance, such as musicals and plays, and exchanged various ideas and opinions on future promotional activities and content production plans. The various contents produced by the supporters can be found on the Seoul Culture Pass Instagram account.

Mr. B, who is a supporter, said, “In the case of a play, you can watch it for around 10,000 won if you get a discount, so you can enjoy cultural life all year round with a culture pass.” “It's a great benefit for young people with light wallets, and I personally am interested in getting a job in the field of performance and exhibition in the future, so I became a supporter.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.