Seo Samseok: "Fishing Village Residents to Improve Living Conditions Themselves"

Full Amendment to the "Rural Economic and Social Services Act" Proposed
Aims to Improve Living Conditions in Fishing Villages through Community-Based Services
Representative Seo Samseok Leads Legislative Effort

Assemblyman Seo Samsuk.

A legislative amendment is being promoted to enable residents to improve the poor living conditions in fishing villages, such as healthcare, medical services, and education, on their own.

Seo Samseok, a lawmaker from the Democratic Party of Korea (Yeongam, Muan, Shinan in Jeonnam), announced on the 6th that he had proposed a full amendment to the "Act on the Promotion of Community-Based Economic and Social Services in Rural Areas" (hereinafter referred to as the "Rural Economic and Social Services Act") containing these provisions.

The "Rural Economic and Social Services Act" was originally enacted during the 21st National Assembly through a bill proposed by Representative Seo, providing a legal basis for rural residents to voluntarily offer economic and social services.

However, infrastructure in fishing villages remains insufficient. According to data from the Korea Maritime Institute, which surveyed the average number of facilities in fishing village towns and townships, among 11 coastal metropolitan areas, only Jeju had at least one medical facility. For beauty salons and bathhouses, nine out of the 11 metropolitan areas (excluding Gyeongbuk and Busan) had fewer than one facility on average, and all 11 areas had only about 0.1 banking institutions each.

The lack of social infrastructure is expected to accelerate the disappearance of fishing villages. In 2023, the local extinction rate in fishing villages was 85%, up 7.8% from 77.2% in 2020, three years earlier. In particular, the risk rate of local extinction in urban fishing villages such as Busan, Incheon, Mokpo, and Yeosu increased significantly from 51.3% to 66.2% over the same period.

Taking these factors into account, the full amendment to the "Rural Economic and Social Services Act" expands its scope to fishing villages and establishes a basis for residents to voluntarily provide necessary economic and social services by forming social fisheries communities.

Representative Seo explained the background of the proposal, stating, "In fishing villages, including islands, the lack of suitable living conditions is accelerating population decline, creating a vicious cycle of deteriorating economic and social infrastructure. Just like in rural areas, I hope that fishing village residents can cooperate to provide services tailored to their regional characteristics and revitalize fishing households."

Meanwhile, Representative Seo also proposed three other amendment bills in addition to the full amendment to the "Rural Economic and Social Services Act": the "Veterinarians Act," the "Fishing Vessel Act," and the "Marina Port Development Act."