The Busan-Jinhae Free Economic Zone Authority (BJFEZ) has launched an experiential program designed to draw young people in the region into industrial settings. The initiative aims to connect classroom learning with field visits spanning businesses, ports and historical sites, ultimately helping participants map out their career paths.
BJFEZ said Wednesday that it held this year's first "BJFEZ Insight Trip" on Tuesday for 37 participants, including students from Kyungnam University's Department of Public Administration. The program was structured as a sequential tour of key industrial and logistics hubs within the free economic zone.
The Insight Trip is a field-based education program designed to help local youth understand the broader industrial structure by directly experiencing businesses and industrial sites within the free economic zone. BJFEZ piloted the program last year and has made it a regular offering this year, expanding its operations.
Participants visited DWL Global, a global logistics company, to tour its logistics operations. They then visited the Busan Port Authority's Busan New Port branch and the free economic zone's promotional center to learn about the functions, development vision and industrial ecosystem of Busan New Port.
The program went beyond simple site visits by incorporating a storytelling tour linking the Gaya Iron Age culture, Jepo — a Joseon Dynasty trade hub — and the victory route of Admiral Yi Sun-sin during the Imjin War, creating a multidimensional learning experience combining industry with history and culture.
"We hope this was an opportunity to directly experience vivid industrial settings that are difficult to encounter in books and classrooms," BJFEZ Commissioner Park Seong-ho said. "We will continue to strengthen partnerships with universities, businesses and related agencies to expand field-based programs."
Participating students said they were able to see firsthand the intersection of regional industry and public administration by visiting logistics companies and port facilities. They noted that the program, which connected businesses, public institutions and the free economic zone's promotional center, provided practical help in understanding the regional industrial ecosystem.