Preliminary Candidate Lee Gang-rae Proposes "Creation of Rural-Type Socio-Cultural Innovation Town"

"We Will Also Strive to Create a Regional Environment That Increases Births and In-Migration"

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Lee Kang-rae, a preliminary candidate for the National Assembly representing Namwon, Sunchang, and Imsil in Jeonbuk from the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 28th, “We will review legislation to create a ‘rural-type social and cultural innovation town,’ a complex space where residents can come together on their own to solve issues such as housing, jobs, education, and healthcare, similar to the Social Innovation Park in the metropolitan area, in order to reduce the risk of extinction index.”

According to the Korea Employment Information Service’s ‘Korea’s Local Extinction 2019,’ Jeonbuk scored 0.53, ranking third nationwide in local extinction risk after Jeonnam (0.44) and Gyeongbuk (0.50).

In particular, Imsil was revealed as the most at-risk area in Jeonbuk with a score of 0.205, and Sunchang and Namwon also showed high risk indices within Jeonbuk.

Preliminary candidate Lee Kang-rae emphasized, “This is a mega-trend that the nation must prepare for, as it is a disaster-like challenge that cannot be dismissed as merely a local problem caused by metropolitan-centered national policies and low birthrates and aging population. While it is inevitable that the number of villages in each eup and myeon will gradually decrease due to aging, I believe it is possible to transform eup and myeon to encourage childbirth and in-migration.”

He added, “I will do my best to improve the childcare environment after childbirth to create a child-friendly environment.”

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