[Exclusive] Sancheong County to Raise Public Officials' Settlement Rate... Comprehensive Support for Housing, Education, and Welfare

Creating stable living conditions through housing support for employees without homes, low-interest loans, and expanded education and cultural infrastructure

Sancheong County in South Gyeongsang Province is implementing a comprehensive support plan that covers housing, finance, education, and welfare to increase the rate of public officials living within the county and to prevent population outflow. The strategy is to create stable living conditions, encourage settlement in the area, and boost vitality in the local community.

◆ Housing stability support for public officials without homes

The county will launch full-scale support for the “Sancheong County Public Officials Apartment (public officials-only housing)” to ease the housing burden of public officials who do not own a home.

The support targets are public officials and public service employees affiliated with Sancheong County who do not own a home. The priority supply criteria will be set in the following order: newlywed couples, large families without homes who actually reside outside the county, large families without homes who actually reside within the county, and two-person households (share houses). Through this, the county aims to reduce housing costs and encourage settlement within the county.

Photo of the Sancheong-gun county office marker.

◆ Low-interest loans to encourage long-term residence

Financial and economic incentives will also be provided. The county will support housing loans for residents of the public officials apartment and for those wishing to purchase a home. While reflecting the Bank of Korea base interest rate, it plans to apply a low interest rate in the range of 1.5% to 2%.

The county expects that substantially easing the interest burden will lead to long-term residence.

◆ Expanded educational support and strengthening of “Ujeong Haksa”

Support for children’s education will also be strengthened. The county will expand support for “Ujeong Haksa,” a dormitory-type public academy currently operated to foster local talent and prevent population outflow.

By inviting well-known instructors from Seoul and the Gyeonggi area, the county plans to provide customized classes by level and college entrance consulting, and to enhance the quality of operations so that it can become a successful model for public academies. Through this, it aims to minimize the transfer of public officials’ children to other regions.

◆ Linking HR and welfare and expanding living infrastructure

The county is reviewing a plan to grant extra points in performance evaluations and in the selection of exemplary public officials to those who live within the county, thereby providing a tangible incentive for settling in the area.

In addition, the county will regularly host cultural and artistic performances such as opera, plays, and musicals, and expand everyday sports facilities such as swimming pools and fitness centers to further improve living conditions.

“Joint growth of the public sector and the community” A county official said, “When housing stability is achieved together with improvements in educational and cultural conditions, the rate of public officials settling within the county will increase in a meaningful way,” adding, “We will create a virtuous cycle in which the public sector and the local community grow together.”

This comprehensive plan is expected to serve as a new model that both encourages stable settlement of public officials in the region and strengthens the living base, thereby addressing the issue of local population decline.