With South Korea’s foreign resident population reaching 2.6 million, the successful integration of young adults with a migration background into the labor market has emerged as a critical socio-economic imperative. This study addresses this gap by critically examining the institutional discontinuities and structural barriers that hinder their school-to-work transition. In doing so, it provides a strategic roadmap to ensure the sustainable social integration of these young adults as independent and contributing members of society. Based on these findings, this research proposes three strategic pillars for policy reform. First, it calls for enhancing the inclusivity of universal youth policies to lower institutional barriers related to nationality or visa status, thereby ensuring a level playing field for all. Second, it emphasizes targeted human capital development, including specialized higher education pathways for late-entry migrants and job-specific Korean language programs, to maximize their professional potential. Finally, the report advocates for governance innovation to eliminate the blind spot through inter-ministerial cooperation.

This study provides a preliminary simulation-based analysis of how adopting a multi-address system and reflecting living population mobility in grant allocation could reshape local governments’ welfare financing and fiscal responsibility. Under a fixed grant envelope, some high-demand non-metropolitan areas may gain fiscal capacity, while metropolitan commuter cities could face increased pressure. The findings underscore that achieving welfare equity and fiscal accountability in an era of expanding living spaces depends on coherent alignment among population statistics, intergovernmental finance, and welfare delivery systems.

The primary purpose of this study is to analyze the recent Danish public assistance reform and derive policy implications for South Korea’s National Basic Living Security System. The core directions of the Danish reform can be summarized into three pillars: simplification of the benefit structure, reinforcement of work requirements, and enhancement of work incentives. Specifically, the reform abolished the complex system of 29 benefit caps and the 225-hour work rule, transitioning toward an income-based monitoring and incentive system. Meanwhile, stringent work obligations and sanctions were introduced for specific vulnerable groups. These research findings provide the following implications. First, the fundamental characteristics of the Danish welfare state are undergoing a transformation. Notably, "workfare" elements, similar to those observed in the United Kingdom or the United States, have been significantly strengthened. Second, the Danish case offers substantial insights for South Korea’s National Basic Living Security System, which continues to face "non-take-up" issues due to institutional complexity and the psychological barrier of shame. To enhance beneficiaries' understanding and institutional accessibility, it is imperative to simplify the system and improve application procedures in a manner that reduces social shame and stigma.

Housing is a foundational condition for human well-being, and access to “adequate housing” is recognized internationally, including by the UN, as a fundamental human right. In Korea, the 2015 reform of the National Basic Livelihood Security system separated the Housing Benefit into an independent program with expanded coverage and increased payment levels, but program assessment must move beyond how much is paid to what improves―namely, whether housing rights are actually secured. Accordingly, this study evaluates the Housing Benefit not merely as a tool for reducing housing costs but as a rights-based policy instrument, diagnosing its achievements and limitations to inform reform directions. It (1) examines recipients’ characteristics, housing conditions, and stability using the Survey on Actual Housing Condition; (2) empirically identifies why housing instability and cost overburden persist among recipients; (3) tracks longitudinal effects with the Korea Welfare Panel Study using a housing index and rent-to-income ratios (RIR); and (4) assesses qualitative impacts―such as program experiences, housing upgrading, and psychosocial stability―through in-depth interviews and housing inspections. Results suggest that while the Housing Benefit has partially eased cost pressures, its effectiveness remains limited from a housing-rights perspective, with notable constraints in the private rental sector. These issues are unlikely to be resolved quickly or by the Housing Benefit alone, underscoring the need to reorient evaluation and policy design toward outcomes that directly advance the right to adequate housing.

This study applies the concept of the welfare market to pension systems in order to systematically examine the characteristics of public and private pensions. Focusing particularly on private pensions, including occupational pensions, it explores the interests of relevant actors, the market-oriented elements embedded in institutional design, and the modes of regulation that shape these arrangements. Pension systems operate within a welfare market formed through the interaction of public and private pensions, with occupational pensions occupying a particularly important position at the nexus of old-age income security and financial markets. At the same time, welfare markets are marked by a structural dilemma in which excessive regulation may discourage private provision, while insufficient regulation may impede the achievement of public objectives. These findings underscore the need for pension design that balances market efficiency and public responsibility. Accordingly, the use of the welfare market framework in pension systems should be designed to preserve the primary objective of old-age income security, while incorporating sufficient institutional flexibility to avoid undermining private-sector participation.

This study investigated public awareness of medication abuse, examined domestic and international systems for preventing and managing medication abuse, and conducted quantitative and qualitative research on diet drugs (oral appetite suppressants) to gain an in-depth understanding of the context of abuse. Using medications arbitrarily beyond their prescribed purpose and dosage carries the risk of abuse and can negatively impact health. It is necessary to expand services such as counseling for medication abuse and addiction and to strengthen intervention by professionals including physicians, pharmacists, and nurses. Furthermore, the acquisition and utilization of balanced information regarding the effects and side effects of medications must be emphasized.

Against the backdrop of accelerating closures of childcare centers and kindergartens driven by South Korea’s declining birth rate, this study reconceptualizes childcare as an essential service for child development and proposes institutional and spatial design principles to ensure practical accessibility for all children, regardless of where they live. The analysis shows that although South Korea has built a largely universal childcare framework through initiatives such as free childcare, it still lacks a legal mechanism that guarantees effective access and utilization as a fundamental right. Demographic decline has followed an overall process of sparsification, marked by both the contraction of residential areas and an equalizing downward shift in density; however, it also exhibits distinct regional transition paths―for example, density dilution in metropolitan areas and clustered concentration in nonmetropolitan regions. Empirically, these dynamics appear as six types of spatial change and increasingly heterogeneous inequality patterns, shaped by regional urban structure and stages of development. To address this crisis, we apply a unique-coverage algorithm to identify and map irreplaceable “essential hubs” where a service void would emerge immediately if a facility were to close. Focus group interviews with facility directors and parents reveal a vicious cycle in which the erosion of childcare infrastructure undermines local living conditions and intensifies migration intentions among young adults; they also underscore deepening childcare inequities in sparse areas, where children face both restricted mobility and limited service alternatives. Ultimately, a transition toward a rights-based system that guarantees childcare access requires an integrated policy package: (1) codifying childcare accessibility as a legal right with clear remedial procedures, (2) introducing flexible public childcare models suited to low-density areas, (3) providing targeted fiscal support for vulnerable zones based on actual travel distance rather than administrative boundaries, (4) strengthening public transportation to secure mobility, and (5) implementing systematic closure management to ensure continuity of care.

My Health Data(Personal Health Record) is designed to substantively secure individuals’ data sovereignty and right to self-determination over their personal health information, enhance the continuity and efficiency of healthcare delivery, and facilitate personalized healthcare services. Simultaneously, it aims to maximize the social value of health data across both public and private sectors, thereby fostering systemic innovation within the healthcare ecosystem. Grounded in this problem recognition, the present study systematically examined the current status and policy trajectories of My Health Data(Personal Health Record) systems in both domestic and international contexts. In addition, in-depth interviews were conducted with a diverse range of stakeholders―including experts, industry representatives, and healthcare institution personnel―to capture field-level experiences and perceptions. Furthermore, by comprehensively analyzing perception surveys administered to the general public and pilot project participants, the study identified structural limitations of the existing system and derived key policy implications for improvement. The findings suggest that, for My Health Data(Personal Health Record) to be institutionalized as a national digital health information integration platform that advances citizen-centered medical innovation, comprehensive ecosystem restructuring at both institutional and service levels is required. In particular, a strategic policy shift is necessary to prioritize the maximization of patient control and user convenience, the establishment of a coherent governance framework, the assurance of interoperability across healthcare institutions, the design of sustainable compensation and participation incentive mechanisms, and the strengthening of utilization strategies centered on primary care.

Among the many social issues facing Korea, greater attention is being paid to the intergenerational gap in benefits and burdens. From an intergenerational-equity perspective, the burden on today’s younger generation and on future generations will continue to rise. This study measures the lifetime net burden of different cohorts using generational accounting and analyzes how benefits and burdens are distributed to inform policies that promote intergenerational equity in the social security system.

This study compares and analyzes how seven major social risks are distributed among income classes in 6 countries, including Korea, and how social security net benefits are distributed in response. Compared to other countries, Korea shows a pattern that social risks are concentrated in low-income groups, but the concentration of social security net benefits is not the highest. In allocating social security finances, a strategic approach is needed that considers the distribution of social risks.