South Korea adds three municipalities to population-decline list, bringing total to 92

South Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety said on October 7 that it had designated 92 municipalities as population-declining areas, up from 89 in 2021. Geumjeong Ward in Busan, Dongducheon in Gyeonggi Province and Tongyeong in South Gyeongsang Province are the three additions. The designation connects places facing population decline with government funding and other public support.

This is the first redesignation since the government established the list five years ago. The ministry also designated 18 population-interest areas, a separate category for places considered at high risk of decline. SBS News reported that the three municipalities added to the main list had previously been in that interest category. Their move changes which support framework applies to them, though the reported allocations do not establish that money has already been spent.

What the designation means for Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong

The ministry describes the designation as a way to connect local responses to population decline with the Local Extinction Response Fund, administrative and financial measures, and support programs run by central government departments. That makes the revised list a public-service decision as well as a demographic classification: it identifies which local governments can plan projects within a dedicated national support system.

According to SBS, each of the three newly designated areas is to receive 6 billion won as a base allocation from this year’s fund without an evaluation, because the municipalities had not submitted business plans. From next year, SBS reported, their allocations will be determined through business-plan evaluations, as they are for areas already on the list. These are announced funding arrangements; the reporting does not establish completed disbursement or identify projects delivered with the money.

How South Korea reviewed its population-decline list

The ministry said its revised population-vitality index combines demographic measures with indicators of regional activity. Its nine indicators include population change, age structure, birth rate, youth migration and fiscal independence, alongside newly added measures for urbanization, the number of employed people and the population present in an area. The review therefore considers more than the number of registered residents when classifying a municipality.

The ministry has not released the index values or rankings for individual municipalities. SBS reported that officials cited concern that publication could stigmatize places as underdeveloped. Without those figures, readers can see which municipalities were placed in each category and the criteria the ministry says it used, but cannot assess from the disclosed results how close any individual municipality was to a category boundary.

The ministry’s initial 2021 exercise named 89 population-declining areas and 18 population-interest areas. This review raises the first total by three while retaining 18 in the interest category. SBS reported that South Jeolla Province has the largest number of designated population-declining areas, at 16, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 15. South Gyeongsang Province and Gangwon Province have 12 each.

Support for areas whose conditions improved

The review also addresses municipalities whose conditions improved. The ministry said areas leaving the decline or interest categories would continue to receive existing support for five years under a Population Vitality Plus classification. SBS identified Yeonggwang County in South Jeolla Province, Busan’s Dong Ward and Daegu’s Seo Ward among areas whose improved population conditions brought them into that arrangement. Continued support is intended to avoid an abrupt break in local efforts when an area’s classification changes.

Interior Minister Yun Ho-jung said the redesignation reflects changes in population and local conditions over the past five years. He said the government would concentrate support across departments on designated areas while sustaining recovery in places classified as Population Vitality Plus. The ministry also plans a second national response plan for 2027 to 2031. The designation, funding plans and future policy work describe the government’s response; they do not yet show whether population decline has been reversed in any newly listed municipality.