Yeondang-ri in Yeongyang-gun cited as model for vacant-home regeneration; population up 5.2%, new businesses up 10.3% after basic income launch

The vacant-home regeneration project in Yeondang-ri, Ibam-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. Nine neglected empty houses were converted into cultural and experiential spaces, turning the village into a local attraction drawing some 25,000 visitors a year. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]
The vacant-home regeneration project in Yeondang-ri, Ibam-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, North Gyeongsang Province. Nine neglected empty houses were converted into cultural and experiential spaces, turning the village into a local attraction drawing some 25,000 visitors a year. [Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs]

A remote mountain village in Yeongyang-gun, North Gyeongsang Province, has transformed itself into a tourism destination drawing 25,000 visitors a year by repurposing abandoned homes. The government plans to promote vacant-home regeneration and a rural basic income program as core policies for combating population decline.

Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Minister Song Mi-ryeong visited Yeondang-ri in Ibam-myeon, Yeongyang-gun, on Monday to inspect vacant-home regeneration sites and review the rollout of the rural basic income program.

Since 2020, the village has converted nine vacant homes into a cafe, a village library, a hanok guesthouse and a tour guide's residence. Total public investment in the regeneration project reached 1.72 billion won (about $1.13 million).

The standout example is Yeondanglim, a cafe that a young returnee to rural life opened by renovating two of the empty houses. Serving menus built around locally grown produce and hosting cultural events such as village concerts, the cafe posted roughly 150 million won in sales last year and draws about 20,000 visitors annually.

Village-wide visitor numbers climbed from 10,000 in 2020 to 25,000 in 2023, while the community fund grew from 20 million won to 60 million won over the same period.

To replicate such results elsewhere, the government has been pushing to enact a special law on the maintenance and management of vacant rural homes. The bill passed the National Assembly last month and awaits promulgation after cabinet approval this month.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs plans to subsidize demolition of vacant homes with little reuse potential, while activating transactions for usable properties through a Rural Vacant Home Bank. In areas with a high concentration of empty houses, the ministry is also pursuing projects to regenerate them into startup spaces, residential facilities and shared-use amenities.

The effects of the rural basic income program were also discussed at a roundtable held that day.

Yeongyang-gun has been paying residents a rural basic income of 200,000 won per month this year — 150,000 won from the central government topped up by 50,000 won from the county.

Since the program launched, Yeongyang-gun's population has risen 5.2 percent and new business registrations have increased 10.3 percent, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

"Population decline and neglected vacant homes in rural areas are urgent challenges that can no longer be deferred," Song said. "I hope the Special Act on Vacant Home Management and the rural basic income program will breathe new vitality into communities at risk of disappearing."


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