Empty houses in fishing villages are being repurposed as accommodations for prospective fishers and care housing for the elderly.
The Korea Federation of SMEs and Agricultural and Fishery Cooperation Foundation (Cooperation Foundation) announced on the 26th that it will sign a memorandum of understanding for the 'Public-Private Partnership Fishing Village Empty House Regeneration Project' together with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Busan Port Authority, Incheon Port Authority, Yeosu·Gwangyang Port Authority, Ulsan Port Authority, Wando County, and Namhae County at H Hotel in Osong, Chungbuk.
The public-private partnership fishing village empty house regeneration project is the first initiative by the government and private sector to reutilize empty houses in fishing villages to create facilities needed in fishing village areas, such as accommodations for prospective fishers and care housing for the elderly. The project sites are Wando County in Jeollanam-do and Namhae County in Gyeongsangnam-do, with 500 million KRW funded by four port authorities through the Agricultural and Fishery Win-Win Cooperation Fund.
In Wando County, starting from the end of the year, three empty houses in the Soan-myeon area will be remodeled to create care houses for elderly people requiring nursing care and share houses for returnees and prospective fishers. In Namhae County, three empty houses in the Seolcheon-myeon and Gohyeon-myeon areas will be provided as education and accommodation facilities for those wishing to return to fishing.
Cho Taeyong, Head of the Agricultural and Fishery Win-Win Fund Operations Division at the Cooperation Foundation, said, "As local extinction accelerates, the increasing number of empty houses in rural and fishing areas is one of the serious social problems," adding, "We hope that through this memorandum of understanding, the living conditions in fishing villages will improve and the influx of residents will expand."
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