8000 Jeonbuk Youth Move to Different Regions Annually... Population Extinction Crisis

It has been identified that more than 8,000 young people (aged 20-39) from the Jeonbuk region leave their hometowns for other areas every year.

According to the 'Domestic Population Movement Statistics' from Statistics Korea released by Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province on the 2nd, 33,319 young people left for other cities and provinces over four years from 2020.

Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province Office. [Photo by Yonhap News]

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By year, 1,168 left in 2020, 7,909 in 2021, 8,127 in 2022, and 7,115 in 2023, averaging 8,329 departures annually.

Among the young population who left last year, by age group, those aged 20-24 accounted for 11.5%, 25-29 for 11.1%, 30-34 for 6.7%, and 34-39 for 4.1%.

As the youth leave their hometowns, combined with low birth rates and aging population, 13 out of the 14 cities and counties in Jeonbuk, excluding Jeonju, have been classified as at risk of extinction. Six cities and counties, including Iksan, are in the entry stage of extinction risk, while seven, including Jinan County, are in the high-risk extinction category.

Jeonbuk Self-Governing Province is striving to 'retain youth' through various policies. Representative programs include the Youth Job Internship Project, Youth Startup Farmer Settlement Support Project, and Region-Led Youth Job Project.

The Youth Job Internship Project supports about 900 young people with 4.6 billion KRW in training expenses to develop job skills and provide opportunities for career exploration.

Additionally, the Youth Startup Farmer Settlement Support Project provides monthly support of 800,000 to 1,100,000 KRW per person for up to three years to about 2,000 young farmers to encourage stable settlement.

Lastly, the Region-Led Youth Job Project supports 10.4 billion KRW to companies that provide jobs suited to regional characteristics and to university students and students on leave who are job seekers.

Besides these, Jeonbuk Self-Governing Province plans to support rental deposit guarantees for newlyweds and youth to stabilize housing, promote rural settlement projects, and provide temporary monthly rent support for youth.

Kim Gwan-young, Governor of Jeonbuk Self-Governing Province, stated, "We will improve living conditions so that young people, the leaders of future generations, can work, challenge themselves, and lead happy lives in their hometowns," adding, "We hope that young people facing difficulties due to the global economic crisis can freely pursue their dreams in Jeonbuk."

Meanwhile, among the population who left Busan for the Seoul metropolitan area last year, 60% were young people. The reasons for leaving Busan were job-related at 86.9% (9,939 people), family at 21.2% (2,424 people), housing at 17.1% (1,955 people), and natural environment at 11.1% (1,275 people).

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