In 2004, the National Assembly passed the ｢Special Act on the Resolution of Youth Unemployment｣ in order to help resolve the issues contributing to youth unemployment and promote their employment and revised the Act to the ｢Special Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment｣ in 2009. According to the relevant laws, the Korean government has established and implemented a number of measures to increase youth employment. As of 2013, the total budget for the youth employment programs run by 14 ministries was KRW 1.7903 trillion.
     
      However, despite such efforts, the economic participation rate for Korean youth (ages 15 to 29) was 43.4% as of June 2013. By age group, among the 36 OECD member nations, both the 20~24 and 25~29 age groups ranked 32nd and the 30~34 age group ranked 35th. Moreover, the youth (ages15~29) employment rate was at 40.0% as of June 2013, with the 20~24 age group ranked 23rd, the 25~29 group ranked 27th, and the 30~34 age group ranked 29th among the 36 OECD nations. The higher the age group, the lower the rank moved. As described, as the issue of youth employment has worsened despite the considerations and efforts to resolve it, the report evaluated the youth employment programs of the Korean government and reviewed them to suggest improvements.
     
      The results of the program assessment are as follows.
      First, while the Korean government reported that it supported 450,000 people through 50 programs as of 2013, there were only a small number of programs that supported employment for job-seeking youth, and many of the programs were not appropriate to be categorized as youth employment programs, such as education and training for medical personnel, scholarships for graduate schools, and international volunteer activities.
     
      Second, while the ｢Framework Act on Employment Policy｣ stipulates that the scope and classification criteria for financial subsidy programs for employment need to be established for the efficiency of such programs, the Ministry of Employment and Labor has not established such standards. Moreover, while the ｢Special Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment｣ and its ｢Enforcement Decree｣ mandates that the heads of rural self-governing governments and the head of the central administration prepare their own implementation plans for promoting youth employment and to submit such plans to the Minister of Employment and Labor, there had been no submissions to the Minister as of July 2013 and none of the items stipulated by the law had been implemented.
     
      Third, while the ｢Framework Act on Employment Policy｣ and the ｢Special Act on the Promotion of Youth Employment｣ prescribe that the Korean government provide employment support services to employment-disadvantaged youth, who have difficulty finding jobs due to reasons such as insufficient schooling, little job experience, or a lack of technical vocational skills. Eight programs from seven ministries had no support for such disadvantaged groups, and seven programs from six other ministries, including the Rural Development Administration, had less than 5% of their programs supporting these groups.
     
      Fourth, while the ministries and rural governments need to register and manage the invested budget, the planned number of employments, the actual performance, and the number of people employed on the Ilmoa system, accurate performance and the current status cannot be identified easily due to delays in the system inputs. 

      Lastly, while the Ministry of Employment and Labor recently planned to expand the age limit for the programs and for mandatory employment by public institutions for the promotion of youth employment from the current 29 to 34, the effectiveness of this plan seems to require further review. 
     
      In order to effectively carry out the youth employment programs in the future, the heads of the rural governments and the central government should establish their employment promotion plans and submit them to the Ministry of Employment and Labor to comply with the governing laws. According to the ｢Framework Act on Employment Policy｣, the Minister of Employment and Labor shall set up the scope and criteria standards for youth employment programs and introduce stronger support for employment-disadvantaged youth. Moreover, the Ilmoa system should be appropriately managed, where all performance information on youth employment programs can be identified and assessed, so as to improve the regulations or to adjust the budget.