Gyeongbuk Province's Urgent Choice for 'Regional Extinction'... First Metropolitan Government to Launch 'Comprehensive Plan' Research Project

A Decrease of 26,000 People in the Past Year Alone... 19 out of 23 Si-Gun at Risk of Disappearance

The photo shows the commencement meeting of the research project for establishing the 'Comprehensive Plan for Responding to Local Extinction' held by Gyeongbuk Province on the 27th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Jae-ho] Gyeongsangbuk-do is the first metropolitan local government in the country to promote a service project to establish a 'Comprehensive Plan for Responding to Local Extinction' to overcome the risk of extinction caused by population decline.

On the 27th, Gyeongsangbuk-do held a kickoff meeting for the research service to establish the 'Comprehensive Plan for Responding to Local Extinction,' attended by advisory committee members from various fields and officials from 23 cities and counties.

According to last year's announcement by the Korea Employment Information Service, Gyeongsangbuk-do's local extinction risk index is 0.47, with 19 out of 23 cities and counties facing the risk of extinction. The aging rate is also 21.7% (national average 16.4%), with 19 cities and counties entering a super-aged society. Seven counties including Gunwi, Uiseong, and Yeongyang are classified as high-risk extinction areas, showing the highest extinction risk following Jeollanam-do.

Since Gyeongsangbuk-do separated from Daegu City in 1981, its population, which was as high as 3.19 million, decreased by a staggering 550,000 to 2.64 million by the end of last year. In the past year alone, the population of Gyeongsangbuk-do decreased by about 26,000.

According to Statistics Korea, the population of Gyeongsangbuk-do is expected to shrink to around 2.5 million by 2040. Population decline due to low birth rates and aging is an unavoidable reality, requiring drastic measures to prepare for a contraction-oriented society.

Accordingly, through this service project, Gyeongsangbuk-do plans to set directions such as mid- to long-term visions and strategies for responding to local extinction, while discovering key policies and convergence strategy policies by person, space/infrastructure, and job strategies considering the local situation.

Gyeongsangbuk-do Deputy Governor Kang Seong-jo said, "The crisis of local extinction due to population decline caused by falling birth rates and the outflow of young generations to the metropolitan area is more serious than ever," adding, "We plan to establish a customized comprehensive plan for responding to local extinction reflecting the local reality and to discover implementation plans linked with central government policies."

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