Jeonnam Province Wins Grand Prize at Ministry of the Interior and Safety's 'Population Decline Response Best Practices Competition'

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 15th that it won the grand prize at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘2022 Local Government Population Decline Response Best Practice Competition,’ receiving an institutional commendation along with a special grant of 500 million KRW.

The province presented the case of ‘Youth, Come Back: Cultivating 10,000 Smart Young Farmers and Fishers in Jeonnam’ at this competition. The cultivation of 10,000 young farmers and fishers is also a pledge of the 8th local government administration.

To sustain Jeonnam’s rural and fishing villages and agriculture and fisheries amid rural population decline and aging, it emphasized the urgent need to nurture more than 1,000 young farmers and fishers annually, and introduced step-by-step customized support policies from entry into agriculture and fisheries to income generation, which received high acclaim.

This competition was open to 15 cities and provinces nationwide, excluding Seoul and Sejong, 89 population decline areas, and 18 areas of interest.

Among 115 submitted cases, 17 (2 metropolitan and 15 basic local governments) were selected as best practices through the first document screening and the second presentation evaluation. Each best practice receives a special grant ranging from 100 million KRW to 500 million KRW.

Gangjin County received the grand prize for ‘Income Generation and Increase in Resident Population through Fu-so Operation,’ and Jindo County received the encouragement award for the case of ‘Regional Vitality through Village Communities,’ each receiving a special grant of 500 million KRW.

Moon Geum-ju, Vice Governor of Jeonnam Province, said, “Jeonnam, the center of agricultural and marine product production, faces a serious situation where the population will decrease by more than 30% in 10 years unless more than 1,000 young farmers and fishers are nurtured annually,” adding, “We will do our best to cultivate successors for sustainable agriculture, fisheries, and rural communities.”

Meanwhile, Jeonnam Province secured a total of 308 billion KRW, including 88.2 billion KRW?the largest amount in the metropolitan account?from the Local Extinction Response Fund (2022?2023). A dedicated task force (TF) for the Local Extinction Response Fund, led by the Vice Governor, has been formed to accelerate the discovery of projects for the 2024 Local Extinction Response Fund.

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