Gangjin-gun Holds Meeting to Address Crisis of Disappearing Fishing Villages

Uljin, Seosan, Tongyeong, Jeju Online and Offline Simultaneous Event, Attended by Over 50 Fishermen and Others

On the 26th, a meeting to address the extinction crisis in fishing village areas was held at the Gangjin Youth Training Center. Photo by Asia Economy

[Gangjin＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-su] On the 26th, Gangjin-gun, Jeollanam-do, held a "Roundtable Meeting to Respond to the Crisis of Disappearance of Fishing Villages" at the Youth Training Center, attended by more than 50 people including fishermen and experts from the Jeonnam region and responsible public officials, the office announced on the 29th.

The event, hosted by the Presidential Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Rural Special Committee (Chairman Jeong Hyun-chan) and organized by the Korea Maritime Institute, was simultaneously held online and offline from Gyeongbuk Uljin, a high-risk area for regional disappearance and a central hub, as well as Gangjin in Jeonnam, Seosan in Chungnam, Tongyeong in Gyeongnam, and Jeju.

The meeting proceeded with a presentation on revitalization measures for fishing villages by Policy Officer Choi Hyun-ho of the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, followed by discussions on strategic tasks to respond to the era of fishing village disappearance, the status of fishing villages by region, and overcoming measures to respond to regional disappearance.

Chairman Jeong Hyun-chan stated, "We plan to reflect various voices from the field to respond to the difficulties faced by fishing villages confronted with changes such as population decline, regional disappearance, and a super-aged society, and to establish effective policies for revitalizing fishing villages."

Lee Sang-sim, Deputy Governor of Gangjin-gun, said, "Gangjin-gun has been doing its best to improve fishing conditions such as maintaining breakwaters and fishing port facilities through the Fishing Village New Deal 300 project over the past three years, and we expect residents' income to increase through fostering the 6th industry linking seafood production, processing, and sales." He added, "We request government-level support to overcome the crisis and to select Gangjin-gun as a target site for the 2022 Fishing Village New Deal project."

Meanwhile, the aging rate of fishing villages in Gangjin-gun is 34.7%, which is more than twice the national average of 15.7%, indicating a rapid acceleration of population decline and aging.

Accordingly, the county is focusing on building hardware for population attraction, such as establishing fishing village infrastructure including vacant house maintenance projects within the jurisdiction, and signing a business agreement with the Government Employees Pension Service in August to create a retirees' community village in Baeksa Fishing Experience Village in Daegu-myeon.

Gangjin=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-su kys86120@asiae.co.kr

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