The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 27th that it has selected eight sites for the 2024 Youth Rural Settlement Creation Project districts: Jeongseon and Inje counties in Gangwon, Boeun county in Chungbuk, Buyeo county in Chungnam, Namwon city and Sunchang county in Jeonbuk, Gokseong county in Jeonnam, and Hadong county in Gyeongnam.
The Youth Rural Settlement Creation Project is designed to alleviate housing and childcare burdens for young rural residents such as returning farmers and migrants, and to support stable rural settlement by improving living conditions.
The project districts were selected through a comprehensive evaluation of ▲ linkage with jobs, ▲ accessibility to educational, cultural, and welfare facilities, and ▲ operation and management plans for rental housing and shared facilities.
Since the pilot project began in 2019, a total of nine sites nationwide have been selected. As of December last year, 123 households had moved in at four sites: 36 households in Goesan county, Chungbuk; 29 in Seocheon county, Chungnam; 30 in Goheung county, Jeonnam; and 28 in Sangju city, Gyeongbuk.
An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs explained, "In Goesan and Seocheon, over 160 young households, including 61 children, have completed moving in, which has had a positive effect on responding to the rural extinction crisis by saving local elementary schools at risk of closure." He added, "In the case of Sangju, by linking and promoting returning farmer jobs, the Smart Farm Innovation Valley is located within walking distance (5 minutes), resulting in a very high satisfaction level among residents."
This year, reflecting the customized housing needs of rural youth, eight sites were selected, doubling the number from the previous year. Each project district will develop a rental housing complex of about 30 detached houses, and within the complex, a shared childcare facility and one building for cultural and leisure community facilities will be constructed. The total project cost per district is 9 billion KRW (4.5 billion KRW in national funds), to be supported over three years.
Among the eight sites selected this year, Inje county in Gangwon, Buyeo county in Chungnam, and Gokseong county in Jeonnam will link youth-customized jobs and residential complexes with regionally specialized rental smart farms and youth start-up smart agricultural complexes. Additionally, the project districts in Jeongseon county in Gangwon, Boeun county in Chungbuk, and Hadong county in Gyeongnam are located in eup and myeon centers, allowing the use of living infrastructure such as elementary schools and cultural and welfare centers, which the Ministry expects will enhance residential convenience.
Kim Jong-gu, Director of the Rural Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "Youth create new value in rural areas and are the hope that can revitalize rural communities. Supporting rural youth is the top priority task to overcome the rural extinction crisis." He added, "The Ministry will actively expand housing support projects such as the Youth Rural Settlement Creation Project, as well as job projects, to ensure the stable settlement of youth in rural areas."
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