Seocheon-gun Jangseon Village Selected as Best District in Vulnerable Area Living Conditions Improvement Project

Jangseon Village, Seocheon, Chungnam

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] The Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 12th that they conducted an evaluation of 55 rural vulnerable area living condition improvement projects selected in 2015 and completed in all, selecting a total of four excellent districts including the top district, Jangseon Village in Seocheon-gun, Chungnam. Gwanpyeong Village in Goesan-gun, Chungbuk, Duji Village in Sunchang-gun, Jeonbuk, and Guam Village in Hwasun-gun, Jeonnam were selected as excellent.

The vulnerable area living condition improvement project is a project to improve living conditions so that residents of vulnerable urban and rural areas can be guaranteed a minimum quality of life (National Minimum), and has been selecting and supporting vulnerable areas since 2015.

Main project contents include housing maintenance such as slate roof improvement and old house repair, safety facility maintenance such as fence, retaining wall, river, and bridge maintenance and expansion of fire roads, improvement of traditional toilets, expansion of living infrastructure such as water supply and sewage systems, and software projects including elderly care, health management programs, and resident capacity building.

From 2015 to 2020, a total of 431 sites including urban and rural areas were selected, and the recruitment of new districts for 2021 is currently underway. This rural living condition improvement project evaluation was conducted to discover excellent cases among completed villages and share the achievements with city and county officials who are currently conducting or planning to promote the project, aiming to improve the project outcomes.

The evaluation quantified project fidelity, goal achievement, efforts of local governments and residents, and discovery of linked projects, and combined the quantitative evaluation results led by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs with qualitative evaluation results conducted under the Balanced National Development Committee by expert evaluators in architecture, landscape, and rural planning who visited the villages in person, conducted on-site inspections, and interviewed local government officials and village residents to select excellent districts. Villages selected as excellent districts received good evaluations not only for project outcomes but also for resident participation and efforts in linked projects.

In particular, Jangseon Village in Seocheon, Chungnam, selected as the top district, improved the village landscape by expanding narrow village alleys, repairing vacant houses, and maintaining fences, and remodeled the existing village hall into a communal living home where all residents, including the elderly, can communicate. Also, slate roof repairs, which initially involved only about 20 households, saw increased resident participation, resulting in the repair of all slate roofs by the completion of the project, enhancing project outcomes. Seocheon-gun actively supported the project by creating an eco-friendly rice culture center by remodeling a nearby closed school and linking with Chungnam Province’s village restructuring project to revitalize the village.

City and county districts selected as excellent will receive awards such as the Chairman’s Award from the Balanced National Development Committee and the Minister’s Award from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, and will receive incentives such as additional points in the evaluation for new district selection in 2021.

A Balanced National Development Committee official stated, "As part of balanced national development, the government will continue to implement support policies to meet the basic quality of life for vulnerable areas excluded from growth benefits," and added, "Next year, after receiving new district applications through cities and provinces by January 22 at the Balanced National Development Committee, a total of 85 sites will be selected through the selection process, including 70 rural and 15 urban sites."

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