[The Editors' Verdict] Why Busan-Born Go Player Shin Jin-seo Donated to Namhae County

Shin Jin-seo (23), the strongest player in Korean Go, donated 5 million won to the hometown love donation fund in Namhae-gun, Gyeongnam Province on the 29th of last month. His late grandmother’s hometown is Namhae. Shin Jin-seo led Korea to a comeback victory with a ‘six consecutive wins in the endgame’ at the Nongshim Shin Ramyun Cup World Go Masters held recently in Shanghai, China, but his grandmother passed away during the tournament. He said, "I decided to donate to the Namhae-gun regional development fund with a heart mourning my grandmother." Shin Jin-seo has donated several times to Namhae-gun. He was born in Busan, transferred to Seoul, attended Chungam Elementary School, and dropped out while attending Chungam Middle School. His connection to Namhae-gun is solely through his grandmother, making it his second hometown.

Kyung-ho Lee, Head of Issue & Trend Team

The hometown love donation system, implemented last year, allows individuals to donate not only to the area where they were born but also to their ‘second hometowns’ formed through studies, work, travel, and other relationships. Last year, the total amount raised by 243 local governments nationwide was 65.02 billion won, with a total of 525,000 donations. Among these, the average amount raised by 89 depopulated areas was 380 million won, higher than the 200 million won average in other areas. Damyang-gun in Jeonnam, with a population of 45,000, attracted over 2.2 billion won, ranking first nationwide. Even after deducting 30% for return gifts and operating expenses, more than 1 billion won entered the county’s treasury. Damyang-gun actively promoted the program to expatriates while offering a variety of unique return gifts that caught attention. These included representative agricultural, marine, and livestock products and processed goods from Damyang, as well as experiential activities, accommodation vouchers, pet food snacks, and packages of grains, fruits, and snacks, which gained popularity. Damyang’s ‘Daesup Malgeun Damyang Rice’ ranked fifth in return gifts last year with 36.21 million won.

The origin of the hometown love donation system is Japan’s hometown tax payment system. The term ‘tax payment’ is used because if you donate more than 2,000 yen (about 18,000 won), you receive return gifts along with a reduction in resident tax. In the first year of implementation in 2008, 8.1 billion yen (72 billion won) was donated, with 54,000 donations made. From 2008 to 2022, the cumulative donation amount exceeded 40 trillion won, with 217.79 million donations made. Considering that the system was activated from 2015 after its introduction in 2008, it will take time for the hometown love donation system to help local governments, especially those in depopulated areas, economically. Since it is still in its early stages, there have been various confusions and controversies, such as the return gift of pork belly with bones.

There are increasing demands for system improvements. Currently, only individuals can donate, with a maximum limit of 5 million won. From 2025, this will be expanded to 20 million won. There is a need for a plan to allow corporations or institutions to donate as well. There are also calls to raise the tax credit limit from 100,000 won to 300,000 won. Currently, return gifts are provided within 30% of the donation amount, and a full tax credit is given for donations up to 100,000 won. For amounts exceeding 100,000 won, a 16.5% tax credit is applied. Benefits decrease once donations exceed 100,000 won. There are also requests to exclude the Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi metropolitan areas from the fundraising subjects or to allow fundraising through private platforms alongside the government-created integrated platform, similar to Japan. Local city and county units are directly hit by ultra-low birth rates and ultra-aging populations. While the hometown love donation system is not a quick fix for these issues, it is hoped that by opening small channels one by one, it will establish itself as a new win-win model for local governments.