Jangseong-gun, Jeollanam-do recently held a public discussion forum on population decline response at the 4th floor Academy Hall of the county office, the county announced on the 22nd.
Jangseong-gun recently held a public discussion forum on responding to population decline at the Academy Hall on the 4th floor of the county office. [Photo by Jangseong-gun]
The forum was attended by residents with specialized knowledge or extensive field experience in the relevant areas, who participated as a citizen participation group to share their opinions.
This meeting, organized to establish the county's basic population policy plan, was divided into four subcommittees: housing and living conditions, talent development, jobs and economy, and culture and tourism.
In the housing and living conditions subcommittee, suggestions were made to remodel vacant houses and empty stores to attract young people and to provide second homes for urban residents.
There were also proposals to unify youth support systems and strengthen youth communities.
The talent development subcommittee emphasized the need to expand overall infrastructure for childbirth and childcare.
They also conveyed the opinion that although the satisfaction of families with school-age children in the region is high, educational conditions should be further strengthened so that this trend continues through middle and high school.
As an example, they mentioned establishing distinctive departments such as animation and art therapy.
The jobs and economy subcommittee suggested actively utilizing Jangseong’s status as a satellite city of Gwangju to develop strategies for strengthening connectivity.
They called for measures to attract young people to the nano industrial complex and shared best practices from other regions.
The culture and tourism subcommittee generally agreed on the need to actively utilize local resources such as Chukryeongsan Mountain, Baekyangsa Temple, and Hwangryong River to revitalize the tourism industry and promote regional economic development.
The county plans to actively incorporate the local issues, challenges, and population inflow measures presented during this public forum into the establishment of a five-year basic population policy plan.
They will also link this with the establishment of the 2024 local extinction response fund investment plan. At the end of this month, a project discovery briefing session will be held to secure the population decline response and local extinction response fund.
County Governor Kim Han-jong stated, “We will solidly build living service infrastructure directly related to residents’ daily lives, such as housing, transportation, welfare and medical care, culture and tourism, economy, and education, turning the crisis of local extinction and population decline into an opportunity.”
Jangseong = Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Jo Han-gyu baekok@asiae.co.kr
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