Mokpo Re-designated as Employment Crisis Area... 'Expectations to Overcome Shipbuilding Industry Crisis'

Employment Promotion Support Until the End of Next Year

On-site meeting regarding the additional extension of the designation of employment crisis areas. Photo by Mokpo City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Jeong Seunghyun] Mokpo City in Jeonnam announced on the 17th that the designation period for the employment crisis area and the special employment support industry for shipbuilding, jointly with Yeongam County, has been extended for one more year until the end of next year.

On the same day, the Ministry of Employment and Labor confirmed the extension of employment crisis areas including Mokpo, Yeongam, Gunsan, Geoje, Tongyeong, Goseong, Changwon Jinhae, and Dong-gu in Ulsan.

As the third extension period ends this year since the first designation of the employment crisis area, the city consulted with the Mokpo branch of the Ministry of Employment and Labor and deliberated at the Mokpo City Labor-Management-Civil-Government Council, and on October 28th, requested an additional one-year extension designation from the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

According to the "Notice on the Criteria for Designation of Employment Crisis Areas," extensions are possible only twice, but to resolve the situation where additional extension was not possible, the city exchanged opinions with other cities and counties such as Jeonnam and Gyeongnam and united efforts for government proposals, leading to a revision of the notice on October 29th.

With the designation of the employment crisis area, various measures can be supported, including ▲expansion of employment retention subsidies ▲increase in additional employment incentives for youth ▲raising the limit of the Tomorrow Learning Card ▲expansion of worker livelihood stabilization loans ▲expansion of funding support for local companies and partner firms ▲retraining and reemployment support for technical personnel ▲expansion of public job projects. Along with this, it is expected to receive an additional ordinary local tax grant worth about 18 billion KRW at this year's level.

The regional economy of Mokpo and Yeongam, where a national industrial complex with a high proportion of shipbuilding is located, has suffered great difficulties due to the simultaneous recession of nearby commercial districts caused by the deterioration of shipbuilding performance and the employment cliff caused by the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Furthermore, while restoring employment stability prior to the employment crisis in 2015, the city strongly requested re-designation to maximize synergy effects on the regional industry in connection with the extension of the industrial crisis area designation in May and the designation of the Dae-yang Industrial Complex as a special support area for small and medium enterprises in October.

In particular, regardless of meeting the designation criteria indicators, the city comprehensively explained the difficult industrial conditions by presenting overall statistics on the region's economy, industry, and employment situation.

To achieve re-designation, since August, the city has shared opinions with cities and counties in Jeonnam and Gyeongnam, and actively explained the difficulties of the regional industry and the necessity of re-designation during the on-site inspection of the Jeolla region (Mokpo, Yeongam, Gunsan) by the Ministry of Employment and Labor's joint public-private investigation team for crisis areas and special industries on the 24th of last month. Along with this, local members of the National Assembly also made efforts through various methods such as government proposals.

A city official stated, "We expect that the additional extension of the employment crisis area designation will serve as an opportunity to contribute to the development of regional industries and the creation of various jobs."

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