Korea Expressway Corp. holds first public institution briefing on 'Sunshine Income Village' project

Korea Expressway Corporation on Monday became the first public institution to hold a briefing on procedures for providing highway sites, as part of efforts to advance the government's "Sunshine Income Village" initiative.

The Sunshine Income Village project is a community-driven program in which local residents form cooperatives and operate solar power plants to generate income, with the aim of boosting energy self-sufficiency and stimulating local economies.

The briefing drew more than 200 attendees, including the Ministry of Interior and Safety's Sunshine Income Village Task Force, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, around 30 local governments from across the country seeking to establish Sunshine Income Villages, and approximately 100 renewable energy service companies, known as ReSCO.

Korea Expressway Corporation shared its full workflow, from identifying available sites such as decommissioned highway sections and other idle land to granting road occupancy permits.

The Ministry of Interior and Safety said the application window for the first round of 2026 Sunshine Income Village selections had closed with 129 villages applying from 61 cities and counties across 11 provinces and metropolitan cities nationwide.