'Operation to Maintain Population of 500,000' ... Pohang City Sends SOS to POSCO Affiliates for "Settlement Support Fund"

2019: 507,025 → 2020: 502,916 → Below 500,000 by Year-End 'Crisis'
From February, 500,000 KRW per family member of relocated/expanded company employees, 300,000 KRW for university students

From the left, Lee Kang-deok, Mayor of Pohang, and Nam Soo-hee, Head of POSCO Pohang Steelworks.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] On the 15th, Pohang City held a win-win development agreement ceremony for the 'Pohang Love Address Registration Movement' with seven POSCO affiliates at the POSCO conference room.

At the ceremony, about 30 people attended, including Mayor Lee Kang-deok, representatives from POSCO, POSCO Chemical, POSCO ICT, POSCO Steel Sheet, POSCO M-TEC, POSCO Humans, and the dedicated department heads for one-on-one corporate support.

They agreed to join hands in jointly responding to the crisis awareness regarding the population decline issue in Pohang City and also discussed plans to provide corporate-specific incentives when employees transfer their address to Pohang City in the future.

Since February this year, Pohang City has been providing up to 300,000 KRW in address relocation support funds to university students transferring from outside the city. Additionally, for companies relocating, expanding, or returning domestically within the city, the city provides worker relocation settlement funds of 500,000 KRW per family member transferring their address (1,000,000 KRW for the third child or more).

Mayor Lee Kang-deok emphasized, "From a long-term perspective, population recovery is expected through diversification of new industries, but difficulties are anticipated for the next few years. The city will also develop steady policies to restore the population to 510,000 through active policy development at the city level."

Nam Soo-hee, head of POSCO Pohang Steelworks, responded, "As the largest company in Pohang City, we will coordinate with the city to find ways to contribute to continuous population recovery and provide support."

Meanwhile, starting with this agreement, Pohang City plans to hold agreement ceremonies on the 18th with the Steel Management Corporation and executives of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Additional agreements will be pursued with local universities and autonomous organizations in the future.

The population of Pohang City decreased by 4,109 from 507,025 in 2019 to 502,916 last year. If it falls below 500,000, the city’s status will inevitably decline due to organizational downsizing, reduced administrative authority, and decreased local allocation tax.

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