Chairman Jeong Seonyong Vows Full Support to Make the Local Depopulation Response Fund a Practical Priming Force for the New Era of Local Autonomy

Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association and North Chungcheong Province Hold Meeting
Call for Expansion of Practical Projects to Attract New Residents,
Including Remodeling Closed Schools and Youth Rental Housing

The Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association (Chairman Jeong Seonyong) and North Chungcheong Province have launched practical, on-site measures to overcome the national crisis of local depopulation.

Jeong Seonyong (fourth from the right in the front row), chairman of the Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association, and Lee Bangmu (third from the right in the front row), director of planning and coordination for Chungbuk Province, and others are posing for a commemorative photo after holding an on-site meeting for the Local Extinction Response Fund. Provided by Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association.

The association announced on the 9th that on the 6th it held an "On-site Meeting for Sharing Outcomes of Projects Funded by the Local Depopulation Response Fund and Communication with the Field" at the Chungbuk Research Institute, together with officials in charge of population decline work from North Chungcheong Province and cities and counties within the province.

This meeting was organized in the fifth year since the introduction of the Local Depopulation Response Fund, with the aim of reviewing the outcomes achieved so far and promoting qualitative improvement in fund management. At the event, the Regional Vitality Support Team of the association explained the evaluation direction for the 2027 fund investment plan and held a Q&A session to listen to the practical difficulties faced by working-level officials of local governments.

In particular, immediately after the meeting, Chairman Jeong Seonyong personally visited major project sites in Goesan County that are supported by the fund. The sites included the Sanchon Youth Startup Special Zone in Jangyeon-myeon, which supports youth entrepreneurship and community activities by remodeling a closed school, and a youth rental housing complex in Soseo-myeon that helps young people from other regions settle stably.

Chairman Jeong met with on-site operators to directly confirm the effects of revitalizing the local economy through fund support, and promised to actively reflect the opinions proposed in the field in future fund management policies.

Jeong Seonyong, chairman of the Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association, and Lee Dongok, executive vice governor of North Chungcheong Province, are touring the site of the Mountain Village Youth Startup Special Zone in Goesan County. Provided by Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association.

Chairman Jeong Seonyong emphasized, "Continuous communication with the field is essential if the Local Depopulation Response Fund is to become a practical solution tailored to the characteristics of each region," adding, "Going forward, the association will provide full support as a reliable partner for local governments so that the fund can be deployed where it is most needed and serve as a priming water for the new era of local autonomy."

Meanwhile, the Local Depopulation Response Fund is a financial resource introduced in 2022 to support responses to population decline and the risk of local extinction. It provides an annual budget totaling 1 trillion won to 107 basic local governments, including 89 population-decline areas and 18 areas of concern, as well as to 13 metropolitan local governments excluding Seoul and Sejong. In addition, the Korea Local Finance Mutual Aid Association, a specialized institution for local finance, manages and operates the Local Depopulation Response Fund under a mandate from the Regional Co-prosperity Development Fund Association, which is composed of 17 cities and provinces.