Signal Nearly half of Korea's 228 local districts are classified as at risk of population extinction

Summary

Close to half of Korea's 228 cities, counties and districts are currently classified as areas at risk of population extinction. Most of these areas are farming, fishing and mountain communities that surround regional metropolitan hubs. The report argues that the spread of such areas should be treated as a present problem rather than a distant potential risk. Many non-capital local governments already fall into this category even as the capital region holds more than half of the population. If these places gain nothing from the growth of nearby hubs, the report warns, the impact of balanced development policy will remain limited. The report also links this to a side effect of the first wave, in which growing innovation cities drew people away from surrounding villages and hastened their decline.