Hamyang-gun Faces Inevitable Entry Below 38,000... All-Out Effort to Increase Population

Average of 0.4 Births and 1.4 Deaths Per Day Over 5 Years
Natural Decrease Intensifies and Long-Term Residents Removed from Registry, etc.

Hamyang County Office building exterior view

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Hamyang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, facing a natural population decline along with a large-scale deregistration of residents, is expected to see its population inevitably fall into the 38,000 range within this month. In response, the county has decided to make an all-out effort to increase its population.

The county anticipates a significant population decrease due to natural decline caused by the deepening low birthrate and aging population in the region, as well as the large-scale deregistration of residents following the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s investigation into long-term unreported residents.

The investigation into long-term unreported residents is a comprehensive survey targeting individuals registered in the resident registration system but whose survival at their place of residence has not been confirmed for over five years due to death, disappearance, or loss of nationality. This process results in the deregistration and cleanup of resident records and is expected to have a considerable impact on population decline not only in our county but also across local governments nationwide.

To counter population decline, since last year, the county has promoted the “Own Hometown Address Campaign” targeting local institutions, businesses, and related organizations to encourage participation and uncover hidden populations, thereby inducing new registrations. Additionally, through customized population increase research projects, the county has actively sought effective policies to boost population growth.

As a result of these efforts, from January last year to February this year, the population decreased by 593 people, showing the smallest rate of population decline compared to other local governments with similar population sizes.

The county’s population has been steadily decreasing since it fell below 40,000 on February 11, 2019, with a total decrease of 1,259 people over five years from 2016 to 2020.

Among these, social factors include 14,203 people moving in and 13,556 moving out, resulting in a net inflow. Natural factors include 723 births and 2,686 deaths, with an average of 0.4 births and 1.4 deaths per day, leading to a natural decrease of about one person per day.

Despite these trends, the combined efforts of residents, public officials, and organizations to actively encourage return migration and rural settlement have succeeded in minimizing the rate of population decline in Hamyang-gun.

A county official stated, “Population decline is not only a problem unique to Hamyang-gun but a nationwide phenomenon. We expect an influx of people aged 10 to 40, which forms the foundation for population growth, through the expansion of rural utopia projects and the establishment of the Coupang logistics center. We will do our best to discover practical policies that help these people settle and live here, aiming to restore and maintain a population of over 50,000 by 2030.”

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