South Korea re-designates 92 population decline regions, adds Busan Geumjeong, Dongducheon and Tongyeong
Version 2: Tongyeong's city government and Gyeongbuk province gave their first detailed responses to the designation, including Tongyeong's population and policy figures, several outlets added the individual fund allocations to the newly designated areas, and a second outlet now reports those amounts.
In short
South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, up from 89 in the first designation five years earlier. Busan's Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi's Dongducheon and Gyeongnam's Tongyeong were newly added, while 18 population decline interest regions were also re-designated. Seoul Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported the three newly designated areas will each receive 60 billion won from the annual 1 trillion won Local Extinction Response Fund this year.
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South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, up from 89 when the list was first drawn in 2021, according to Yonhap, Maeil Business and other outlets. Busan's Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi's Dongducheon and Gyeongnam's Tongyeong — all previously population decline interest regions — were newly added. Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung announced the re-designation at a briefing at the Government Seoul Complex. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 ]
The ministry also re-designated 18 population decline interest regions, the same number as five years ago. Busan Buk-gu and Gyeongbuk's Yecheon-gun and Chilgok-gun were newly named, while Geumjeong-gu, Dongducheon and Tongyeong moved to the main list. Newsis reported that all 15 existing population decline areas in Gyeongbuk were kept and that Gyeongju moved off the interest list to be classified as a “population vitality plus” area. [ 5 , 10 , 12 , 14 , 19 ]
The ministry said it used nine indicators, adding the urbanization rate, the number of employed people and the living population to measures such as average annual population change, the share of elderly and children, the birth rate, youth net migration and fiscal independence. Regions whose conditions improved were removed from the lists but classified as “population vitality plus” areas, keeping existing administrative and financial support for five years, the ministry said, to avoid interrupting recovery momentum. [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
The annual 1 trillion won Local Extinction Response Fund will be directed toward housing, income and care and toward projects linking facilities with content rather than facility construction alone, the ministry said. Seoul Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun reported that Geumjeong-gu, Dongducheon and Tongyeong will each receive 60 billion won this year and the three newly designated interest regions 15 billion won each. Regions on the lists are eligible for 44 administrative, financial and tax special provisions, including second-home tax measures, the ministry said. [ 5 , 10 , 13 , 14 ]
Dong-A Ilbo reported that South Korea's population peaked at 51.84 million in 2020 and has declined since, with concentration in the capital region deepening. Seoul Economic Daily reported the population fell to 51.68 million last year, that the capital region's share rose from 49.9 percent in 2019 to 51.0 percent last year, and that population decline regions shrank by 6.0 percent in 2018-2021 against 4.3 percent in 2022-2025. [ 9 , 13 , 14 ]
Local governments responded the same day. Tongyeong said the designation would become a turning point for regional vitality, and Newsis reported its registered population fell from 125,383 in 2021 to 116,667 in 2025 while the share aged 65 and over rose from 21.1 percent to 27.4 percent. Dongducheon mayor Park Hyung-deok said the designation “shows the reality Dongducheon faces” and that the city would use the funding and special provisions to improve industry, education, transport and living conditions. Gyeongbuk said it is drafting a 2027-2031 response plan with its cities and counties, and Kim Seon-ham of the Korea Development Institute said greater support to specific regions is unlikely to produce dramatic improvement on its own, arguing for concentrating infrastructure investment and government support on regional hub cities. [ 13 , 18 , 19 , 20 ]
Why it matters
The designation decides which local governments can draw on the annual 1 trillion won Local Extinction Response Fund, administrative, financial and tax special provisions and central government support projects. The addition of three regions and the creation of a “population vitality plus” category for areas whose indicators improved show the government keeping support in place for recovering areas as the national population falls and the capital region concentrates further.
Key facts
- The Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 cities, counties and districts as population decline regions on Oct. 7, 2026, up from 89 in the first designation in 2021. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 ]
- Busan Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi Dongducheon and Gyeongnam Tongyeong — all previously population decline interest regions — were newly added to the population decline list. [ 3 , 5 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
- The ministry also re-designated 18 population decline interest regions; Busan Buk-gu, Gyeongbuk Yecheon-gun and Gyeongbuk Chilgok-gun were newly designated, and all 15 existing Gyeongbuk areas were kept. [ 5 , 10 , 12 , 14 , 19 ]
- The ministry said it used nine indicators, adding the urbanization rate, the number of employed people and the living population to existing population and fiscal measures. [ 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
- Regions whose conditions improved were removed from the lists but classified as “population vitality plus” areas and will keep existing support for five years, the ministry said. [ 5 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 14 ]
- Geumjeong-gu, Dongducheon and Tongyeong will each receive 60 billion won from the Local Extinction Response Fund this year, and the three newly designated interest regions 15 billion won each, according to Seoul Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun. [ 13 , 14 ]
- Regions on the lists are eligible for 44 administrative, financial and tax special provisions, including second-home tax measures, the ministry said. [ 5 , 10 , 14 ]
- Minister Yoon Ho-jung said at a briefing at the Government Seoul Complex that the government will concentrate support suited to each region and keep the recovery of “population vitality plus” areas from being cut off. [ 5 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The Ministry of the Interior and Safety re-designated 92 population decline regions on Oct. 7, five years after designating 89 in 2021. [ 3 , 4 , 5 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 16 ]
- Busan Geumjeong-gu, Gyeonggi Dongducheon and Gyeongnam Tongyeong were newly added, and 18 population decline interest regions were also re-designated. [ 3 , 5 , 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
- Interior Minister Yoon Ho-jung announced the re-designation at a briefing at the Government Seoul Complex. [ 5 , 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ]
- The ministry said the annual 1 trillion won Local Extinction Response Fund will be directed at housing, income and care projects rather than facility construction alone, and that 44 special provisions and tax measures are in operation. [ 5 , 10 , 14 ]
- Geumjeong-gu, Dongducheon and Tongyeong will each receive 60 billion won from the Local Extinction Response Fund this year, and Busan Buk-gu, Yecheon-gun and Chilgok-gun 15 billion won each. [ 13 , 14 ]
Still unclear
- Documents differ on the regional label used for the area with the most designated regions: Yonhap, Kyunghyang Shinmun and Seoul Economic Daily write Jeonnam-Gwangju (16 areas), while Maeil Business writes Jeonnam (16 areas). Outlet wording differs and the documents do not explain whether the two labels refer to the same grouping.
- Seoul Economic Daily says Gangwon Gangneung, Sokcho and Inje were removed from the interest-region list and keep the same support; Yonhap and Newsis mention only Gyeongju leaving the list among improved interest areas. Only one document names these areas; Yonhap describes the improved interest regions only as “Gwangju Dong-gu and nine others.”
- Tongyeong's population figures — registered population falling from 125,383 in 2021 to 116,667 in 2025 and the over-65 share rising from 21.1 percent to 27.4 percent — come only from Newsis. Reported in detail by a single outlet drawing on city data.
- The 60 billion won and 15 billion won allocations per region are reported by Seoul Economic Daily and Kyunghyang Shinmun but not in the ministry's own list documents. Both are business outlets citing the same briefing; no ministry document in the set lists the individual amounts.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Kukmin Ilbo reports Busan Geumjeong-gu as a declining area and Busan Buk-gu as an interest region. [ 1 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo reports Dongducheon's designation and its plan to use government support. [ 2 ]
- Kukmin Ilbo reports Busan Geumjeong, Gyeonggi Dongducheon and Gyeongnam Tongyeong joining the population decline list. [ 3 ]
- Newsis reports the population decline regions expanded to 92, with Tongyeong, Dongducheon and Geumjeong-gu added. [ 4 ]
- Yonhap reports the ministry's re-designation of 92 regions and publishes tables of the 92 and the 18 interest regions. [ 5 , 6 , 7 ]
- Korea Economic Daily reports the new designation of Busan Geumjeong, Gyeonggi Dongducheon and Gyeongnam Tongyeong. [ 8 ]
- Dong-A Ilbo reports the expansion to 92 regions and wider government support, citing Minister Yoon Ho-jung's briefing. [ 9 ]
- Maeil Business reports the details, including the provincial breakdown and the “population vitality plus” classification. [ 10 ]
- Asia Economy reports the ministry revised the designation criteria to include economic vitality indicators. [ 11 ]
- Hankook Ilbo reports the 89-to-92 change and the newly added interest regions. [ 12 ]
- Kyunghyang Shinmun reports the 60 billion won allocation to each newly designated region and quotes Dongducheon's mayor and a KDI researcher. [ 13 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports the regions that left the lists, the fund's shift toward housing, income and care, and 2021-2025 population and migration trends. [ 14 ]
- Seoul Economic Daily reports Tongyeong, a fisheries hub, also faces extinction risk as Gyeongnam's total rises to 12 areas. [ 15 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reports the 89-to-92 change and the three additions. [ 16 ]
- Seoul Shinmun reports a population extinction warning for Busan. [ 17 ]
- Newsis reports Tongyeong's designation and its plan to strengthen life-cycle policies, with city population data. [ 18 ]
- Newsis reports Gyeongbuk's 15 population decline areas were all maintained, with Yecheon and Chilgok newly designated interest regions. [ 19 ]
- Yonhap reports Tongyeong saying it will use the designation as a turning point for regional vitality. [ 20 ]