SEOUL, October 07 (AJP) -South Korea has added three localities to its list of depopulation zones, bringing the total to 92 as the country struggles with a shrinking population and the growing concentration of people and jobs around Seoul.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Wednesday that the newly designated areas are Geumjeong District in the southeastern port city of Busan; Dongducheon, north of Seoul; and Tongyeong, a coastal city in South Gyeongsang Province.
The designation, introduced in 2021, identifies cities, counties and districts facing particularly severe demographic pressures and makes them eligible for additional central government funding, tax incentives and regulatory support.
The government initially designated 89 areas five years ago. Wednesday’s revision marked the first comprehensive reassessment since then.
South Korea’s population peaked at about 51.84 million in 2020 and has since declined. The contraction has been particularly severe outside the Seoul metropolitan area as younger people continue to move toward the capital for education and employment.
Under the revised system, the government assessed localities using nine indicators covering population size and structure, economic conditions and social activity.
These include population growth, aging, the share of children, birth rates, youth migration, fiscal independence, urbanization and employment. The ninth measure is the “living population,” which includes people who regularly spend time in an area even if they are not registered as residents.
South Jeolla and Gwangju together have the most designated areas at 16, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 15. South Gyeongsang and Gangwon each have 12, while North Jeolla has 10 and South Chungcheong nine.
Dongducheon’s addition brings the number of designated areas within the Seoul metropolitan region to five, underscoring demographic disparities even within the capital region.
The other four are Ganghwa and Ongjin counties in Incheon and Gapyeong and Yeoncheon counties in Gyeonggi Province. Seoul’s districts are excluded from designation under existing regional development rules.
The ministry also designated 18 localities as “areas of concern,” a separate watch list for places at heightened risk of future population decline.
Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong moved from that category into the more serious depopulation designation. Busan’s Buk District and Yecheon and Chilgok counties in North Gyeongsang were newly added to the watch list.
The government operates a Local Extinction Response Fund worth about 1 trillion won ($747 million) a year to support projects in shrinking regions. Designated areas are also eligible for dozens of special measures, including tax breaks for second homes, expanded acquisition-tax exemptions for young first-time homebuyers and eased employment and residency requirements for some foreign nationals.
The ministry said areas whose demographic conditions improve enough to leave the decline or watch categories will for the first time be classified as “Population Vitality Plus” regions. They will continue receiving existing support for another five years to prevent an abrupt withdrawal of assistance from reversing their recovery.
Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said the revised designations were intended to better reflect demographic and economic changes over the past five years while ensuring that recovering regions do not lose government support too quickly.
The government plans to draw up a second national population-decline response plan covering 2027 through 2031.
AJP Takeaways
- South Korea has added Geumjeong-gu in Busan, Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province to its list of “population decline areas,” bringing the total to 92.
- The designation makes local governments eligible for additional state funding, tax incentives and regulatory support as demographic decline intensifies outside the Seoul metropolitan area.
- The government operates a 1 trillion won ($747 million) annual Local Extinction Response Fund and plans to introduce a new national population-decline response plan covering 2027 through 2031.
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