"Restoring Hapcheon to a Population of 40,000
Making Hapcheon a Better and More Desirable Place to Live"
The population of Hapcheon-gun, Gyeongnam, which was 50,000 in 2014, has steadily declined, falling below the 40,000 mark to 39,938 as of the end of February this year.
This decline did not occur suddenly but is the result of a steady annual decrease of about 1.5 to 2.5%, with the rate accelerating in recent years.
The main causes of the population decline are natural decrease and the outflow of the younger generation. The elderly population aged 65 and over accounts for more than 45% of Hapcheon-gun’s total population, and those aged 80 and above exceed 15.7%, making it a seriously super-aged society nationwide. While there is an annual natural decrease of about 900 people, the population decline is further exacerbated as young people move out due to lack of jobs, housing, education, medical, and cultural facilities.
Natural decrease among the elderly is a structural issue that is difficult to resolve in the short term, but preventing the outflow of young people and expanding the resident population can be partially addressed through policy measures.
Accordingly, Hapcheon-gun has established the ‘Hapcheon-gun Population Policy Comprehensive Plan’ and the ‘Youth Policy Basic Plan’ to implement strategies that respond first to urgent and important areas based on thorough cause analysis. Under the vision of ‘More People, Brighter Future Hapcheon,’ the county is making multifaceted efforts to restore the population to 40,000 by supporting housing, jobs, and childbirth.
The county operates a Local Extinction Response Promotion Team led by the deputy county head to develop comprehensive measures against population decline, and is promoting new projects suited to local conditions as well as local extinction response fund projects. Through this, it aims to enhance the effectiveness of population policies and establish a system that reflects status checks and improvements.
In particular, Hapcheon-gun is conducting a ‘Hapcheon-gun Address Acquisition Campaign’ targeting residents who actually live in Hapcheon but have their addresses registered outside the area, as well as employees of local institutions and businesses. Departments and towns with outstanding performance will be given incentives to encourage active participation.
Hapcheon-gun operates various support measures to increase the population. It is expanding support projects such as increasing childbirth incentives and is working with the Ministry of Health and Welfare to develop effective childbirth and relocation support policies. Additionally, a ‘Population Policy by Life Cycle’ booklet summarizing all support projects is produced and distributed to ensure systematic provision of benefits to newcomers and residents.
The county is promoting youth job support projects and the Youth Startup Processing Valley Base Project, and creating jobs tailored to local resources through the Mountain Connection Project targeting returnees to rural mountain villages. To strengthen agricultural competitiveness, it is expanding support projects to increase high-income crops and enhancing customized support for women farmers.
Following the confirmation of Hapcheon Station on the Southern Inland Railway, a station area development project is underway to establish the foundation for a new Hapcheon city, aiming to grow it into a new economic hub. Additionally, through the operation of local food direct stores and the establishment of supply systems, it supports income increase and job creation for local farmers and small business owners.
To stabilize housing for young people, 60 units of happy housing for young newlyweds and public rental housing for youth are being supplied, with plans to create a Youth Vitality Town to promote youth inflow. This is expected to reduce housing burdens and encourage settlement.
For improving the housing environment of the elderly, welfare housing for seniors is being constructed, and urban regeneration projects, Hope Village creation projects, and vulnerable area living condition improvement projects are actively promoted to improve overall residential conditions. New farmer settlement and housing repair support projects for returnees to farming and rural areas are operated, and a return-to-farming and rural support center helps ensure stable settlement.
A tourism belt connecting Hapcheon Video Theme Park, Hapcheonho Tourist Complex, and Hwangmaesan is being established to expand tourist inflow, and strategies to activate stay-type tourism are being pursued utilizing tourism resources such as the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Okcheon Burial Mounds and Korea’s only meteorite impact crater. Furthermore, policies to attract foreigners and promote the settlement of legally residing foreigners are also being implemented.
To increase the birth rate, policies such as interest support for newlywed housing loans, infant care services, after-school youth care support, and taxi fare support for returning from academies are in place. In particular, childbirth incentives are being expanded, and comprehensive childbirth and childcare support measures are provided, including support for pregnancy and childbirth-related supplies, prenatal checkups, 90% coverage of out-of-pocket expenses for maternal and newborn health management, and postpartum care expenses.
County Governor Kim Yoon-cheol stated, “Population policy issues cannot be solved overnight, but if all public officials and residents unite their efforts, we can definitely achieve good results,” adding, “We will make Hapcheon a better and more desirable place to live to restore the population to 40,000.”
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