Purpose of Research
○This study aims to select rural villages representing Korea’s agricultural, mountain, and fishing communities for a panel survey to observe annual changes and conduct in-depth research on specific topics. Although the main target of the panel survey is the analysis of changes in rural villages, we can get an insight into the current state and transformations of rural korea as a whole using the survey result. Accordingly, the study will contribute to preparing data for developing rural policies in the mid to long term.

Research Methodology
○To cover various types of villages, we selected ten for each province, totaling 102 villages for the panel survey. Then we interviewed 102 representatives and 20% of residents per each village (total 2,151 residents) using a questionnaire paper. We also visited eight villages for a survey. Ten residents per village were pre-selected for a minimum sample and 5-25 per village were added following the total size of households. In particular, we evenly reflected residents’ ages and genders in the panels.


Key Findings
○Population is declining and the aging population is getting worse in rural areas. However, the nationwide trend of urban-to-rural migration is diversifying village functions. There are distinct changes in recent rural villages such as households their members live in multiple locations, and the related-population who interact with rural areas.
○Although industries in rural areas such as agriculture, forestry, and fishery have reduced, about half of the people are still engaged in those industries. Concerning agriculture, controlled farming in facilities has increased and individual farm households produce their own rather than pursuing co-work. The labor force is declining, and generational changes are showing up. Economic activities in the non-agriculture industry have become diverse in remote villages, but the phenomenon cannot be considered a nationwide trend.
○Group activities have weakened in terms of the number of organizations or participation of members. However, various clubs work still for village communication, e.g., the elderly, or women work. Most villages hold joint properties(e.g., including cash and real estate), and have emerged new communal activities for dining and care for the underprivileged. However, new faces who migrated from urban for rural life or farming are much less interested in community activities than other local people, although they are mostly young and educated. So encouraging their participation will contribute significantly to revitalizing rural areas.

(For more information, please refer to the report.)