'Fisheries Village Savior' Establishment of Korea Fisheries Infrastructure Public Corporation Approved at Cabinet Meeting

Expansion and Reorganization by Fisheries and Ports Corporation
Eco-friendly and Smart Fisheries, Public Payment System Education, etc.

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The government announced on the 24th that it has approved a bill at the Cabinet meeting to expand and reorganize the existing Korea Fisheries and Ports Corporation into the Korea Fisheries and Coastal Communities Corporation to save fishing villages from the risk of extinction.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries explained that with the approval of the "Korea Fisheries and Coastal Communities Corporation Act" at the Cabinet meeting, it is now possible to launch a specialized public institution for fisheries and fishing villages. As of 2019, the population aged 65 and over in fishing villages accounted for 39.2% of the total. At the same time, the regional extinction index, where a value below 0.2 is considered a "high-risk group," was 0.3, much lower than that of cities (1.2).

Given this situation, it was urgent to discover new projects beyond the original duties of the Korea Fisheries and Ports Corporation, such as fishing village and port development and fishery regeneration. The newly launched Korea Fisheries and Coastal Communities Corporation plans to operate as an organization that comprehensively supports tasks such as smart and green fisheries support, training of fisheries specialists, and fishing village and port development. It will take on the important role of "revitalizing fisheries and fishing villages." Additionally, it will be responsible for new projects including support and promotion of eco-friendly and smart fisheries, education on the fisheries public payment system, and activation of private investment. The law specifies the basis for investment, borrowing, and fee collection necessary to finance the corporation’s new projects. However, the "management of foreign crew members on fishing vessels," which was intended to be included as a new project of the corporation, was not included in the bill.

Sung Yeolsan, Director of the Fishing Village and Port Division at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, said, "With the operation of a specialized public institution for revitalizing fisheries and fishing villages, we will be able to respond more actively to the risk of fishing village extinction and strengthen projects to foster fisheries and promote population inflow into fishing villages." He added, "We will actively persuade the National Assembly during the review stage to ensure the bill passes promptly."

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