Three areas, including Busan's Geumjeong District, Dongducheon City in Gyeonggi Province, and Tongyeong City in South Gyeongsang Province, have been newly designated as population decline areas.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on October 7 that it will re-designate 92 areas as population decline regions. This marks the first re-designation since the initial designation of 89 areas nationwide in 2021.
Population decline areas are designated based on factors such as birth rates, aging populations, youth populations, and the working-age population, indicating regions at risk of local extinction. Designated areas receive support from the local extinction response fund and special administrative and financial measures.
In this re-designation, Geumjeong District, Dongducheon City, and Tongyeong City were added to the existing 89 areas. The ministry explained that the re-designation criteria were established by comprehensively considering not only changes in population size but also living conditions and economic vitality in the regions.
Among the re-designated areas, three—Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province, Dong District in Busan, and Seo District in Daegu—were classified as 'Population Vitality Plus (+) Areas' due to improvements in their population conditions. Although these areas have shown improvements in population decline indicators, the ministry will continue existing support for the next five years to prevent any disruption in their recovery momentum.
Regionally, South Jeolla Province has the highest number of designated areas at 16, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 15, South Gyeongsang and Gangwon Provinces each with 12, North Jeolla Province with 10, South Chungcheong Province with 9, North Chungcheong Province with 6, Busan with 4, and Gyeonggi and Daegu each with 3, while Incheon has 2.
In addition to the population decline areas, 18 areas identified as having a high risk of population decline, termed 'Population Decline Concern Areas,' were also re-designated. Geumjeong District, Dongducheon City, and Tongyeong City, previously concern areas, have now been classified as population decline areas, while Buk District in Busan and Yecheon and Chilgok Counties in North Gyeongsang Province have been newly designated as concern areas.
The ministry plans to support the development of response strategies tailored to the local conditions of both population decline and concern areas, with an annual allocation of 1 trillion won for effective projects. The focus will be on enhancing local activities and economic vitality rather than solely on facility expansion.
Minister of the Interior and Safety Yoon Ho-jung stated, “We will concentrate government support tailored to local conditions in population decline areas and ensure that the recovery momentum in Population Vitality Plus (+) Areas is not interrupted.”
Meanwhile, the populations of the newly designated areas are as follows: Geumjeong District has 206,572 residents (as of July), Dongducheon City has 86,135 residents (as of last month), and Tongyeong City has 115,838 residents (as of last month).
* This article has been translated by AI.
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