The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, City of Tongyeong, and TV channel MBC signed an MoU on the regeneration of vacant homes in fishing villages.

On Wednesday 9 June, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF; Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok) held a signing ceremony with the City of Tongyeong, and a public broadcasting corporation MBC at the main building of the broadcasting company for a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate on the regeneration of empty and deserted houses in fishing villages, with a view to tackling the potential risk of population shrinkage in fishing villages.

This MoU is aimed at supporting the regeneration of empty homes in fishing villages by combining the Ministry’s Fishing Village New Deal 300 project* with MBC’s home renovation show “Live in Empty House in Fishing Village” of “Docu Flex”**. The agreement comes as part of the Ministry’s policies to address population decline and aging in fishing villages.

* As a social overhead capital (SOC) project, the Fishing Village New Deal 300 project has been carried out by the MOF since 2019 to boost the regional economy in fishing villages through the modernization of lagging fishing villages and ports as well as the development of community-specific economic growth strategies.

**Docu Flex, a combination of documentary and flex, is a TV documentary series featuring various genres such as authentic documentaries, lectures, sitcoms, and virtual reality.

In light of demographic trends in fishing villages, the population has decreased by 23.7% over the last five years. In 2020, those aged 65 years or over made up 36.2%, which indicates that the rural area has already become a super-aged society. Notably, such demographic transition is likely to continue or even accelerate in the coming years.

According to data from local governments on unoccupied houses in fishing villages^*, the number of empty houses was tallied at 44,054 in 2020 alone.

*Administrative investigations of local governments conducted from July to September last year specify that small administrative divisions such as “Eup (town)” and “Meyon (township)” are categorized as farming villages, whereas among them, any areas adjacent to lakes, rivers or sea where the residents make their primary living in fishing-related industries are classified as fishing villages.

In a survey on the causes of depopulation and extinction of fishing villages conducted in 2018, poor housing conditions ranked in third place (22.9%), and particularly, an increase in old and abandoned houses was pointed as a major driver that undermines the fishing village residential environment. The survey also revealed that young people consider lack of both job opportunities and ‘liveable’ houses as key detrimental factors in living in fishing villages.

In this context, the “Live in Empty House in Fishing Village” program promoted by this MoU is expected to tackle such housing issues through the regeneration of vacant homes in fishing villages. The program will show the renovation process, including how empty and deserted houses in fishing villages are transformed into stunning dream homes as well as how newcomers breathe new life into an old fishing village.

For the production of the TV show, the MOF conducted a demand survey onan empty home makeover, and together with the production crew, went on a field survey. Through this process, Dara village (달아마을) in the City of Tongyeong has been selected. The residents of the village have expressed the strongest determination and willingness to regenerate empty houses and embrace newcomers. In particular, it seems that the front yard with a breath-taking panoramic ocean view would amplify the results of the rural regeneration project which is undertaken through the renovation of empty homes.

The MOF will provide support for the repairs and renovationof empty houses while MBC and the City of Tongyeong will select tenants and harness empty houses as rental or share houses for those returning to fishing communities or villages. Anyone interested in settling down in the Dara village can apply through the bulletin board of the “Live in Empty House in Fishing Village” program at http://program.imbc.com/Concept/houseinseaside. The final selection will be based on document screening and interviews. Once selected, the tenants will be involved in the entire house makeover process to reflect their tastes, and also rent and reside in the renovated houses for as much as 10 years.

Added to this, the MOF is in process of formulating pilot projects as a post-Fishing Village New Deal project to further cope with the extinction risk of fishing villages. The pilot projects will include creating new jobs, tackling housing issues through empty house makeover, building the infrastructure necessary for everyday life, and ensuring a minimum level of safety at fishing port facilities.

Oceans and Fisheries Minister MOON, Seong-Hyeok said: “I expect that the regeneration of vacant and deserted homes in fishing villages is carried out seamlessly through the home renovation TV show Live in Empty House in Fishing Village, so that this initiative can emerge as an exemplary model for the post-Fishing Village New Deal project in tackling the potential risk of population shrinkage in fishing villages.”