Gyeongbuk Province announced on the 18th that 15 village enterprises (2 excellent, 6 advanced, 7 new) have been finally selected in the 2025 village enterprise designation review hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
Village enterprises are community-based businesses established and operated at the village level, where local residents utilize various regional resources to carry out profit-making projects that solve common local issues, create new income and jobs, and effectively realize the interests of the local community.
These village enterprises are designated by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety after a strict review of requirements such as community orientation, public interest, locality, and business viability.
Village enterprises are categorized as new, re-designated, or advanced according to their stage of development, while excellent village enterprises are promoted to spread exemplary models of village enterprises.
As of the end of 2024, Gyeongbuk Province has 148 village enterprises. With this review, the number increased by 7 to a total of 155 village enterprises, and the number of excellent village enterprises increased by 2 to a total of 17.
In this round of designation review for new and advanced village enterprises, Gyeongbuk Province achieved a designation rate of 92% (13 out of 14 recommended were designated), marking an outstanding achievement of over 90% designation rate for four consecutive years, and has produced excellent village enterprises for ten consecutive years.
These accomplishments are the result of continuous interest and commitment to discovering village enterprises despite reduced government support. The province has held on-site and regular briefing sessions, provided training in collaboration with related organizations to discover potential village enterprise stakeholders, and offered professional consulting to companies preparing for the review, all as part of a tailored support system.
Of the 15 village enterprises selected this time, 8 (6 advanced, 2 excellent) will receive a total of 260 million KRW in support (130 million KRW from the national government, 130 million KRW from local funds). The two enterprises designated as 'excellent village enterprises' will each receive 70 million KRW in project funding to help them grow into leading village enterprises. The six designated as 'advanced village enterprises' (2 in Pohang, 1 in Gimcheon, 2 in Sangju, 1 in Uljin) will each receive 20 million KRW to help them grow as representative village enterprises that realize the value of village enterprises.
The seven newly designated village enterprises (1 in Pohang, 1 in Gyeongju, 1 in Gumi, 1 in Yeongcheon, 1 in Goryeong, 2 in Uljin) will not receive separate project funding, but will be eligible for various indirect support such as promotion, sales channel development, professional consulting, and overseas marketing projects promoted by Gyeongbuk Province and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
Among the excellent village enterprises, Uiseong-gun Agricultural Corporation Hantol Co., Ltd. is a village enterprise that preserves, expands, and distributes the native Hanji-type garlic of Uiseong-gun, whose production is declining. To increase the stable income of Hanji-type garlic farmers, the company purchases garlic at a price at least 200 KRW higher than contract farming or the agricultural cooperative, thereby supporting stable income for local farmers, preserving and expanding native seeds, and creating new jobs for local residents (about 200 people annually), contributing to the revitalization of the local economy. Last year, it achieved sales of 1.7 billion KRW and was selected as an excellent village enterprise.
Uiseong-gun Anikong Agricultural Corporation is a village enterprise that manufactures, sells, and exports various pet snacks tailored to the steadily growing pet market, using agricultural products with traceable origins produced through contract farming with local farmers. It is a successful case where young people have settled in the community through the village enterprise development project, showing that the village enterprise project can be a good model and an alternative to overcoming local crises. Last year, it achieved sales of about 400 million KRW and created 19 jobs.
As of the end of 2024, Gyeongbuk Province's village enterprises are the fourth largest in the country, recording total sales of 26.948 billion KRW, creating 827 jobs, and contributing 319 million KRW to social contribution activities, thus growing and developing together with the region and contributing to community development.
Choi Youngsook, Director of Economic and Trade Affairs of Gyeongbuk Province, said, "Village enterprises are thoroughly community-based businesses where local residents voluntarily solve local issues and contribute to the region, and their very existence benefits the community. We will continue our efforts to discover and support village enterprises so they can grow further."
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