148 Billion Won from Local Extinction Response Fund and 1.7 Billion Won in National and Provincial Grants
Total Project Budget Reaches 22.4 Billion Won
Uiryeong County in South Gyeongsang Province held a groundbreaking ceremony at the construction site in Hari, Uiryeong-eup on September 2, officially announcing the start of the Youth Hostel project.
The Youth Hostel will be built with a project budget of 22.4 billion won, which includes 14.8 billion won from the Local Extinction Response Fund and 1.7 billion won from national and provincial funds. The facility will have a total floor area of 4,399 square meters, four above-ground floors, 37 rooms, and a capacity to accommodate 150 people. In addition, it will feature a large conference hall for meetings and academic events, as well as a restaurant, caf?, and fitness center.
The location is the former site of the 5th Battalion of the 5870 Unit in Hari, Uiryeong-eup, situated within a 1-kilometer radius of the Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education Future Education Center, which attracts 200,000 visitors annually.
This Youth Hostel project was promoted as a pledge by County Governor Oh Taewan. Since it was confirmed that the Future Education Center would be established in Uiryeong, the need for accommodation facilities to house students coming from outside the area has been consistently raised, leading to the push for the Youth Hostel's construction.
Governor Oh Taewan selected the vacant site of the 5th Battalion of the 5870 Unit as the optimal location for the project since 2015. This initiative addressed both residents' complaints about the unsightly building that had been left abandoned for nearly a decade, and the inconvenience faced by visitors who had to stay in other regions due to the lack of short-term accommodation in the county.
Uiryeong County plans to complete construction by February 2027, aiming to begin full-scale operations in March of the same year. The county expects the Youth Hostel to significantly contribute to revitalizing the local economy.
The county analyzed that the Youth Hostel will have a direct and indirect economic impact of nearly 30 billion won.
In particular, the prospects for attracting various tournaments and training camps have brightened. The Uiryeong Eco-Friendly Baseball Stadium has rapidly emerged as a popular winter training venue due to its warm climate, central location in South Gyeongsang Province, and three natural grass fields. However, it has often been overlooked because of accommodation issues.
Governor Oh Taewan stated, "The Youth Hostel will become a new milestone for Uiryeong, transforming it from a place that is easy to leave to a place that is easy to enter at the heart of South Gyeongsang Province." He added, "The Youth Hostel will serve as a catalyst for attracting a population 100 times the size of Uiryeong's, as well as a living population of 2.5 million. I am confident it will play a crucial role in elevating Uiryeong into a stay-type tourism city."
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