Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) said on the 19th that it opened the "Sacheon Hope Center" in Sacheon, South Gyeongsang.
The Sacheon Hope Center is part of a mutually beneficial cooperation project promoted in partnership between Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) and the Ministry of Justice, created to ease manpower shortages at small and midsize businesses and support participants' stable return to society. The Hope Center is expected to build a virtuous cycle in which corporations and participants grow together by providing work experience linked to local industrial worksites and opportunities to adapt to society.
This opening is the second follow-up outcome pursued after a business agreement was signed in Dec. 2023 between Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) and the Korea Correctional Service of the Ministry of Justice. The event was attended by Chairperson Kang Seok-jin of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME), Commissioner General of Korea Correctional Service Lee Hong-yeon, and other key officials.
Starting with the discovery of participating corporations in Feb. last year, the two institutions continued preparations for the opening of the Hope Center, including providing 500 million won in policy funds in Sep. the same year to set up living quarters for inmates.
In particular, the Sacheon Hope Center is significant in that it is operated in connection with the local manufacturing industry. The corporation operating the Hope Center produces parts for agricultural machinery and industrial machinery, and is a manufacturing corporation with strong on-site labor demand.
Chairperson Kang Seok-jin of Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) said, "The Sacheon Hope Center is a mutually beneficial cooperation model that links manpower demand on small and midsize business worksites with correctional administration's support for social reintegration," adding, "We will work closely with the Ministry of Justice to connect policy support to the corporations operating the Hope Center and actively back participants so they can settle stably in local industrial worksites."