Living Conditions Improved in 127 Vulnerable Areas Nationwide

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo In-ho] Living conditions in vulnerable areas across 127 locations nationwide, including Jeonnam and Gyeongbuk, will be improved.

According to the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development on the 4th, the new project sites for the 2020 Vulnerable Area Living Condition Improvement Project were selected as 22 urban locations and 105 rural fishing villages. By city and province, 29 locations in Jeonnam, 23 in Gyeongnam, 19 in Gyeongbuk, 15 in Chungbuk, and a total of 12 locations across 11 cities and provinces were chosen.

For the project sites selected this year, approximately 42 billion KRW will be provided starting this year, with a total of 210 billion KRW in national funds planned for support in the future (about 60 billion KRW for urban areas and about 150 billion KRW for rural fishing villages).

The main project contents include housing maintenance such as slate roof improvement and renovation of old houses, safety facility maintenance such as fence and retaining wall repair and expansion of fire roads, and expansion of living infrastructure such as improvement of traditional toilets and water supply and sewage systems.

Software projects such as human care and capacity-building programs to revitalize resident communities, including elderly care and health management programs, will also be supported.

The Vulnerable Area Living Condition Improvement Project will be carried out over 4 years in urban areas and 3 years in rural fishing villages. The national fund support per location is about 3 billion KRW for urban areas, with up to 7 billion KRW provided for the creation of rental housing to improve the residential environment of urban shantytowns. For rural fishing villages, it is about 1.5 billion KRW. The national fund support rate is 80% for safety and living infrastructure expansion projects and 70% for other projects.

Looking at the main characteristics of this year’s project sites, 10 cities and counties including Jecheon, Wando, and Yecheon (23 locations) were selected as project sites in both urban and rural fishing village areas. Seven cities and counties including Ulju-gun, Goesan-gun, and Gwangyang-si (21 locations) had 3 locations selected according to the newly revised rural fishing village area guidelines this year.

Meanwhile, each relevant ministry will hold a joint workshop for local governments of the new project sites in April to May to finalize project plans. The Balanced Development Committee plans to provide region-specific customized consulting centered on experts in related fields to help local governments smoothly carry out the projects.

A Balanced Development Committee official said, “As part of the government’s balanced national development, support policies will continue to be implemented to meet the basic quality of life for vulnerable areas excluded from growth benefits.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.