Yeongyang-gun launches 9th elected-term administration with pledge to overcome depopulation

Yeongyang-gun in North Gyeongsang Province has launched its 9th elected-term administration with a focus on overcoming the threat of regional depopulation and improving residents' quality of life under a vision it calls the "era of county residents' happiness."

According to the county Wednesday, County Executive Oh Do-chang declared a "grand transformation of county governance" as the administration's guiding vision, pledging to concentrate resources on building what he calls a "Yeongyang-style basic society" — a framework encompassing income, transportation, healthcare, residential, education and lifestyle services, anchored by a lifelong pension for all residents.

The "era of county residents' happiness" goes beyond simple welfare expansion. At its core is a sustainable development model in which the county administration takes full responsibility for residents' lives, creating a virtuous cycle between local growth and community well-being.

As its first priority, the administration will pursue a resident-centered governance overhaul. The county plans to eliminate unnecessary administrative practices and formalities, strengthen practical governance, and instill a culture of principled and accountable public service — all aimed at earning residents' trust.

The flagship campaign pledge of the 9th term — a lifelong pension for all county residents — will also move into full implementation.

The program is an energy-based basic income model that returns to residents the revenues generated by local energy resources, including wind power, pumped-storage hydropower and support funds from the nuclear emergency planning zone.

The county will also continue expanding its "Sunshine Pension Income Villages" initiative to broaden the income base for residents.

Building on the lifelong pension, the county will develop a "Yeongyang-style basic society" integrating transportation, healthcare, residential, education and lifestyle services.

A free demand-responsive call bus service will be introduced to guarantee residents' freedom of movement, and health screening subsidies will be expanded to strengthen preventive medical welfare. The county also plans to improve living conditions and the educational environment through public rental housing complexes and half-price university tuition support.

A rapid-response unit for everyday resident complaints will be expanded to strengthen community-level administration and help residents resolve daily inconveniences quickly.

The county will also accelerate efforts to boost agricultural competitiveness.

It plans to supply essential farm inputs — including fertilizers, pesticides and plastic sheeting — at half price, and expand a foreign worker farm-dispatch program to ease operating costs and labor shortages.

In addition, the county has set a goal of building a smart farm innovation complex for wild vegetables and a next-generation apple orchard spanning 300 hectares to establish an advanced agricultural base, with a target of raising farm household income to 70 million won ($45,000).

The tourism sector will also shift toward nature- and ecology-based stays designed to encourage longer visits.

Plans call for developing a national healing forest at the Yeongyang birch forest, turning the Janggumaegi national wetland into an ecotourism destination, and redeveloping the Seonbawi tourism complex into a mixed-use leisure and recreation hub — all designed to create a virtuous cycle in which tourism drives the local economy.

Expanding the regional transportation network is another key priority of the 9th term.

The county will actively push to have the realignment of National Route 31, the North-South Axis 9 expressway and a single-track railway linking Andong, Yeongyang-gun and Yeongdeok incorporated into national infrastructure plans — a strategy aimed at improving transport access and laying the groundwork for tourism, logistics and industrial development.

"The 9th elected term is a critically important period that will determine Yeongyang's future," Oh said. "Starting with the lifelong pension for all residents, we will complete a Yeongyang-style basic society that takes responsibility for income and welfare, transportation and healthcare, and housing and education — and we will open an era of happiness that every resident can feel."