Park Sang-hui who works at the advanced business complex of Gangdong-gu is excited about lunch break these days thanks to the ‘Our Neighborhood’s Activities’ program organized by Youth Maru, Sangil Center. She is determined to ‘win first place, every day’. It is fun to kick off the slippers she used to kick off to play games when she was a teenager. She could also relieve her stress after working in the morning. It would be awesome to win first place and receive a gift card for some fried chicken.

The scenery of lunch break at ‘Gangdong Youth Maru’ is quite interesting. There is a long line of young people leading all the way to the entrance. They take turns to kick off their slippers during ‘The slipper kicking game of Our Neighborhood’s Activities’.

The games that anyone would have enjoyed playing when they were young including flying paper planes, coin hitting, and archery are becoming the new game culture for office workers in their 20s and 30s. The Youth Maru organizes fun activities with their childhood games for a week during lunch breaks every month. The games are extremely popular among the office workers who work nearby. It is not just because they want to win coffee shop or convenient store coupons. They are regaining their energy through their childhood memories they had forgotten.

Youth Maru (3F, Sangil-ro 6-gil, Gangdong-gu) is a space specially organized by Gangdong-gu for local youth. Any young person can visit the center to study, work, and read. ‘Youth Maru’ is conducting various activities and project design training programs based on three concepts including a space for the youth, values of the youth, and gatherings of the youth. Sangil Center is organizing various interesting programs including lectures for the youth, healing programs for the office workers who work nearby, and project design schools that match teenagers with local youth. The center also supports local youth to build a network by organizing a readers club and movie club every month.

Youth Maru also launched its official website (http://youthmaru.co.kr). The users of the center can make reservations for programs or to rent spaces online via the site. The center is also providing a broad range of support projects for the youth activities.

Gangdong-gu has shown interest in youth issues and established related policies and is now planning to open four additional youth activity platforms by the end of this year. Gangdong-gu is doing its utmost to actively use idle spaces and promote participation and contribution of private and public organizations to create spaces for local youth and support their activities to help to convert their passion for their future into a reality.

◆  The Status of the Youth Activities Platform, 「Gangdong Youth Maru」  ◆

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