10 communities selected by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety as “Youth Villages” designated for young entrepreneurs / Courtesy of Ministry of the Interior and Safety
Facing a deepening demographic crisis and the hollowing out of its rural heartland, Korea is subsidizing the migration of young entrepreneurs to depopulated areas, hoping to convert a growing inventory of abandoned real estate into economic engines.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety said Monday that it has designated 10 struggling communities as “Youth Villages” for 2026, a strategic gamble to reverse the demographic decline caused by young people flocking to the hypercompetitive orbit of Seoul. By providing seed money to transform abandoned storefronts and idle local spaces into high-tech hubs and cultural centers, officials hope to lure young entrepreneurs away from the crushing costs of the capital and toward a decentralized economy built on boutique manufacturing and digital nomadism.
The selections were made from 141 competing teams nationwide. The 10 designated areas are Jung-gu in Daejeon; Cheorwon County in Gangwon Province; Nonsan in South Chungcheong Province; Gimje and Gochang in North Jeolla Province; Gurye in South Jeolla Province; Yeongju and Bonghwa in North Gyeongsang Province; Goseong in South Gyeongsang Province; and Seogwipo on Jeju Island.
Each selected team will receive 200 million won ($144,000) annually over three years, for a total of 600 million won. To ensure the projects survive beyond the initial state-funded lifeline, the government is also brokering a suite of long-term support, ranging from specialized consulting to marketing assistance and partnerships with major corporations looking to fulfill their environmental and social mandates.
The selected villages were recognized for business models built around each region’s distinctive local resources.
In Cheorwon, North Korean defectors and local young residents will collaborate on a Unification Village project, developing processed food products using local ingredients and building a regional brand.
In Bonghwa, a youth gardening collective called Green Gardeners will combine high-end garden culture with agricultural resources, building a self-sustaining base enabling young residents to work and settle locally. In Gimje, local youth will launch a community broadcast station called Non-Non to cultivate content creators and grow both online audiences and permanent residents through events such as a paddy field camping film festival.
The Youth Village program, launched in 2018, has established 51 communities through 2025, becoming a flagship policy for connecting young people with rural regions through local resource-based job experiments and community exchanges.
“Youth Villages are a starting point where young people discover new possibilities and grow in their communities,” said a ministry official.
Source: Korea Times News
