Samcheok, Eumseong, Gongju, Gimje... Selected as Youth Rural Settlement Project Districts

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 6th that it has selected four sites for this year's Youth Rural Settlement Project: Samcheok-si in Gangwon, Eumseong-gun in Chungbuk, Gongju-si in Chungnam, and Gimje-si in Jeonbuk.

The Youth Rural Settlement Project supports easing the housing and childcare burdens of young rural residents such as return-to-farming and return-to-village households, and promotes stable rural settlement by improving living conditions. Project sites are selected through a comprehensive evaluation of ▲ linkage with jobs ▲ accessibility to education, cultural, and welfare facilities ▲ operation and management plans for rental housing and shared facilities.

Since the pilot project began in 2019, a total of five sites have been selected as of 2022. Among them, four sites have completed occupancy (a total of 118 households), and one site is currently establishing a basic plan.

This year, reflecting the customized housing needs of rural youth, four sites were selected. Each project site will develop a rental housing complex of about 30 detached houses, and within the complex, one shared childcare facility and one cultural and leisure community facility will be constructed as a complex. A total project cost of 8 billion KRW (4 billion KRW in national funds) per site will be supported over three years.

Among the four sites, Samcheok-si, Gongju-si, and Gimje-si will establish rental-type intelligent farms (smart farms), while Eumseong-gun will create public rental housing linked to jobs at local industrial complex companies.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to utilize the 'Rural Housing Standard Design Plans,' developed and distributed this year reflecting the demands of return-to-farming and return-to-village hopefuls, when creating residential complexes to reduce design costs and increase residents' housing satisfaction.

Ha Kyung-hee, Director of the Rural Planning Division at the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, said, "We hope that young households who have returned to farming and rural areas can live comfortably and activate communication with local residents through community facilities within the complex, enabling stable settlement in rural areas."

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