Kospo "Welcomes Agreement on Ministry of Economy and Finance's Rural Empty House Pilot Project"

Startup halted for 1.5 years due to regulations expected to resume business through win-win model

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Cheol-hyun] The Korea Startup Forum (Chairpersons Kim Seul-ah, Ahn Sung-woo, Lee Seung-gun) welcomed the decision made at the Ministry of Strategy and Finance's 3rd Innovation Growth Strategy Meeting on the 21st to proceed with the pilot project of Startup Dajayo's 'Accommodation Business Utilizing Vacant Houses in Rural Fishing Villages.'

Dajayo is a startup that operates accommodation services by long-term leasing and remodeling vacant houses in rural fishing villages that had been left as eyesores. Although it was introduced as an innovation case by several government ministries, the business was suspended last May after being investigated by the police for violating the Rural and Fishing Village Maintenance Act, which requires that only actual residents can operate rural fishing village lodging businesses.

In response, the Ministry of Strategy and Finance announced the 'One Step Model' as a conflict resolution mechanism in new industry areas at the 2nd Innovation Growth Strategy Meeting in June and selected the 'Accommodation Business Utilizing Vacant Houses in Rural Fishing Villages' as a priority task to promote conflict mediation among stakeholders. The win-win mediation organization agreed that Dajayo's service has the potential to contribute to solving the vacant house problem in rural fishing villages in the future and decided to proceed with a pilot project through a regulatory sandbox to thoroughly verify the impact on local communities during the business execution process.

Choi Sung-jin, CEO of the Korea Startup Forum, stated, "It is highly significant that all stakeholders made concessions step by step through the operation of the win-win mediation organization under the One Step Model to reach an agreement," adding, "Through this agreement, Dajayo is expected to resume its business in a more advanced form, including the previously suspended vacant houses." CEO Choi further said, "We expect this to be an opportunity to revitalize rural fishing villages by coexisting with the regions through startups' innovative technologies and services," and added, "We hope the One Step Model will serve as a breakthrough for startups facing difficulties due to conflicts of interest."

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