Local Extinction Averted? The Effects of Five Years of South Korean Anti-Extinction Policy

Five years have passed since the South Korean government designated several regions as “depopulation regions and at-risk areas” and began implementing policies to combat what it refers to as “local extinction” in earnest. Later this year, the government is required by statute to re-identify and designate depopulation regions once more, and so attention has turned to the institutional reforms needed to make anti-extinction policies more effective. The government has moved quickly to build the legal scaffolding needed to buttress its policy apparatus: it formally designated several areas as depopulation regions and the National Assembly passed the Special Act on Support for Depopulation Regions, established a KRW 10 trillion Local Extinction Response Fund, and also formulated a basic plan that lays out its approach to addressing the country’s population crisis. Building on the central government’s framework, local governments have autonomously made creative efforts to fight population decline that are beginning to bear fruit. Yet despite some small victories, many challenges remain: the various related plans require closer linkages; deeper coordination between central and local government; project planning that focuses on where people actually live; increased participation by outside organizations; more “software” (i.e., local community programs and services) projects that enhance residential quality-of-life, and incentives for areas to “graduate” from the program. This study finds that since policy took effect, regions suffering from population decline have posted gains in population growth, employment, and youth employment. They are also more financially independent and autonomous. In designated areas, population size and the population growth rate correlate strongly with the employment rate, the youth employment rate, the number of workers, and the number of manufacturing and service establishments. Projects that upgrade and diversify regional industrial structures tend to improve population trends, and therefore warrant more active planning and implementation efforts.