Gijang-gun selected for Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' Fishery Village New Deal 3.0 project

Gijang-gun announced Tuesday that its Hakri-Icheon lifestyle zone has been selected as a final site for the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries' 2027 Fishery Village New Deal 3.0 project. The program is a ministry-led coastal regeneration initiative that builds on earlier fishing village and port revitalization efforts to upgrade living and safety infrastructure and improve community services in fishing communities.

With the selection, Gijang-gun will invest a total of 10 billion won ($7.38 million) over four years starting in 2027 — comprising 7 billion won in national funds, 900 million won from the city and 2.1 billion won from the county — to carry out an integrated regeneration project linking the villages behind Hakri Port and Icheon Port into a single fishing community zone.

Gijang-gun has been preparing for the application since the early stages, forming an administrative council chaired by the deputy county chief and a local consultative body so that officials and residents could jointly design the project plan. The county plans to finalize details through public consultations and expert advisory sessions during the 2027 master-planning process, then proceed in phases following Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries approval and the establishment of an implementation plan.

Key initiatives include environmental improvements at Hakri Port alongside upgrades to fishing gear storage and shared workspaces for fishers. Icheon Port will similarly see port facility upgrades and living-environment improvements to enhance working conditions for fishers and residential conditions for local residents. The county also plans to build a community station to serve as a hub for residents' cooperative activities and daily services, and to run programs aimed at strengthening community capacity and vitality.

"We will develop Hakri Port and Icheon Port into fishing villages where both fishers and residents want to live, and grow them into new centers of vitality along the Gijang coast," Gijang-gun County Chief Woo Seong-bin said. "We will push harder to improve living conditions along the Gijang coast and restore energy to our fishing communities."