Linking Local Extinction Response Fund Projects and Underdeveloped Area Projects... Implementing Effective Initiatives
Pocheon City Selected as the Only Excellent Local Government in the Seoul Metropolitan Area, Secures 4 Billion KRW Fund
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 11th that it has secured 20.5 billion KRW from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety for the 2025 Local Extinction Response Fund. This amount is 3 billion KRW more than last year, enabling more active support for population decline areas (Gapyeong and Yeoncheon) and interest areas (Pocheon and Dongducheon) within the province.
The Local Extinction Response Fund is a resource introduced by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety in 2022 to address population decline and the risk of local extinction. It is distributed annually at a scale of 1 trillion KRW nationwide to metropolitan and basic local governments in population decline and interest areas until 2031.
Metropolitan local governments (15 in total) receive fixed allocations considering population and financial conditions, while basic local governments (107 in total) receive differentiated allocations based on project performance and investment plan evaluations.
Gyeonggi Province has supported expert consulting on project proposals and investment plan preparation tailored to the characteristics of cities and counties in preparation for evaluations. Through working-level meetings between the province and cities/counties, it has actively identified projects linked to local governments or the development plans of northern Gyeonggi to prepare effective investment plans.
As a result, among the 107 population decline and interest areas nationwide, Pocheon City was the only municipality in the Seoul metropolitan area selected as an excellent interest area local government, securing a total of 4 billion KRW by adding an additional allocation of 2.2 billion KRW to the basic allocation of 1.8 billion KRW for basic local governments.
Pocheon City plans to use the Local Extinction Response Fund to establish the ‘Pocheon Educare Platform,’ a complex cultural space encompassing education, care, and leisure services.
Additionally, Gapyeong County will promote three projects including the ‘Cheongpyeong Children's Playground Construction Project’ (7.2 billion KRW), Yeoncheon County will implement four projects including the ‘National Yeoncheon Memorial Park Surrounding Infrastructure Expansion Project’ (7.2 billion KRW), and Dongducheon City will carry out three projects including the ‘Pet Theme Park Construction’ (1.8 billion KRW).
Meanwhile, the province plans to build a ‘Guesthouse for Foreign Workers’ in Yeoncheon County using 300 million KRW of metropolitan funds secured from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to supply foreign labor to farms in need. The guesthouse will include a bathhouse and a book caf? on the first floor, linked with the Gyeonggi The Dream Regeneration Project (250 million KRW), expected to create synergy between projects.
Yoon Sung-jin, Director of the Balanced Development Planning Office of Gyeonggi Province, said, “As part of the large-scale development of northern Gyeonggi, we are promoting projects that help respond to local extinction by linking the Local Extinction Response Fund projects with underdeveloped area projects. We will do our best to utilize the Local Extinction Response Fund well to serve as a stepping stone for the growth of population decline and interest areas in Gyeonggi Province, which have been overlooked due to the metropolitan area's appearance.”
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