Cheongsong-gun, Fully Committed to Addressing Population Decline and Local Extinction Crisis

Cheongsong-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, is putting all its efforts into preparing measures to respond to the gradually deepening population decline and the crisis of local extinction.

Cheongsong-gun held an interim report meeting for the establishment of the 'Basic and Implementation Plans for Responding to Population Decline Areas in Cheongsong-gun and the Investment Plan for the Local Extinction Response Fund for Next Year.'

In this regard, on April 21, Cheongsong-gun held an interim report meeting for the establishment of the ‘Basic and Implementation Plans for Responding to Population Decline Areas in Cheongsong-gun’ and the ‘2024 Local Extinction Response Fund Investment Plan’ at the first conference room of the county office, attended by County Governor Yoon Kyung-hee and more than 20 heads of departments and offices.

The ‘Basic and Implementation Plans for Responding to Population Decline Areas’ are statutory plans under the ‘Special Act on Support for Population Decline Areas,’ which came into effect on January 1 of this year. The purpose is to establish the foundation for Cheongsong-gun’s population policy until 2026, discover annual promotion strategies and detailed tasks, and prepare more realistic and efficient measures against population decline and local extinction by linking with the local extinction response fund.

At this report meeting, based on the mid- to long-term population policy vision and strategic tasks derived through the analysis of local conditions and residents’ opinions (survey) conducted so far, practical measures for the sustainable development of the county were discussed, and specific projects necessary for this were proposed and reviewed.

There was heated discussion on various fields and projects to enhance the region’s development and vitality, including improving residential conditions to prevent the outflow of young people and encourage local settlement, activating the Cheongsong free bus and increasing floating population through linkage with various tourism resources, increasing the attraction effect for returnees to farming by advancing agricultural technology and strengthening the competitiveness of key industries, and improving poor local medical conditions to enhance residential satisfaction.

Governor Yoon Kyung-hee said, “As the population decline problem deepens, we must establish a comprehensive plan that not only expands the resident population but also suggests measures to increase the living population in various forms such as commuting, tourism, and recreation, in line with the nationally changing population paradigm. We will do our best to create a future Cheongsong-gun where everyone wants to live and everyone can live well.”