Improving Living Conditions in Rural Areas
Expectations for Spatial Restructuring and Establishing a Foundation for Youth Settlement
Mungyeong City in Gyeongbuk Province has been finally selected for the "2025 Rural Agreement Contest Project" hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.
Mungyeong City, Gyeongbuk Province, has been finally selected for the "2025 Rural Agreement Contest Project" hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, securing 30 billion KRW in national funding. Shin Hyunguk, mayor of Mungyeong (fourth from the right), is taking a commemorative photo with officials in the city hall office.
With this selection, the city has secured a total budget of 57.2 billion KRW and will carry out large-scale projects aimed at improving living conditions in rural areas and promoting balanced regional development.
The "Rural Agreement" is an integrated contest project under the Act on the Restructuring and Support for the Regeneration of Rural Spaces. If a region establishes a mid- to long-term, locally-driven plan based on spatial planning for rural areas, the project provides up to 30 billion KRW in national funding.
Through this contest, the city secured a total budget of 57.2 billion KRW, including projects such as the Basic Living Base Development Project for four areas including Yeongsun-myeon, the Sanyang-myeon Rural Space Improvement Project, and bonus-point projects like the Youth Rural Housing Initiative.
The projects will be implemented over five years, from 2026 to 2030, in annual phases.
This selection is credited to Mungyeong City’s bottom-up planning process, which focused on revitalizing the region and involved a total of 61 rounds of consultations, including administrative council meetings, town and township resident briefings, surveys, and expert advice.
Shin Hyunguk, mayor of Mungyeong, stated, "We will focus on improving the relatively weak accessibility to essential services and addressing the distribution issues of rural environmental management facilities. By establishing regional hubs, we will actively respond to the challenges of unplanned development and population decline. We will do our utmost to recreate rural Mungyeong as a place to live, work, and rest."
Representative Lim Ija (People Power Party, Mungyeong-Yecheon) also played a significant role in this project’s selection. She actively explained the necessity of the project and the urgency of addressing local issues to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, successfully drawing government attention.
Representative Lim said, "This selection for the Rural Agreement will serve as an important opportunity to restructure rural spaces tailored to Mungyeong. I will continue to do my best to ensure sustainable rural development and to improve the quality of life for local residents."
Going forward, Mungyeong City plans to supplement the basic and implementation plans in cooperation with the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and to officially launch the project after signing the agreement.
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