May 5, 2025
SEOUL – South Korea on Thursday announced a pangovernment plan to tackle the growing problem of unused houses, as rural areas face the looming threat of extinction amid population decline.
While there are an estimated 134,000 so-called empty houses nationwide, making up 7.9 percent of all residential buildings, the problem is particularly acute outside metropolitan areas. As of 2023, 42.7 percent of these empty houses, or 57,223 homes, were concentrated in 89 regions experiencing population decline.
The government said the ongoing population drop would likely fuel a corresponding spike in such houses, which have been abandoned or are unused for various reasons.
The comprehensive project by the Ministry of Interior and Safety; the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport; the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs; and the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries will push for a revision of the law and revamping of management systems for empty residential buildings, particularly in rural areas.
Pairing unused homes with prospective residents
The plans include expanding policies currently in effect by regional governments to rent the empty houses to those looking for housing or local business premises at a low rate.
Cheongyang-gun of South Chungcheong Province in April of last year launched a project to rent out unused houses to young people, newly-weds and those who recently relocated to rural areas for rent of 10,000 won ($7) a month for five years. Another policy in Gangjin-gun of South Jeolla Province allows young people in creative fields to live in a residential area for up to a year, in exchange for doing promotional activities about the area.
The government will implement the most successful policies in other areas, while supporting regional governments to use donations and providing subsidies to repair and repurpose empty houses.
The Fisheries Ministry in particular has been remodeling empty houses in Namha-gun, South Gyeongsang Province as homes for youth in the fishing industry or senior citizens since 2024, and will designate two more areas to join the project.
Studies have indicated that more empty houses could raise the threat of crime, in accordance with the “broken window theory,” according to which, visible signs of disorder such as broken windows can lead to a further decline in the social order. A 2019 report by researchers of the Korean National Police University showed that if empty houses in a certain area increase by 1 percent, the crime rate in the area also increased by 0.128 per 1,000 people.
As part of its comprehensive plan, the government will set up crime prevention facilities in areas with a high density of empty houses that cannot be demolished or repurposed in the near future.
Korea has seen a persistent increase in housing prices in metropolitan areas. In a survey last year of 500 adults aged 20-39 by Korea Research Information, 44.8 percent of respondents said acquiring a home was their biggest concern.
Making repurposing easier
The application period for property tax relief for land used for public purposes after demolition will be alleviated from the current five years to the entire period of public use.
Law revisions will mandate the maintenance responsibility to those owning an empty house by the second half of this year, while the subsidy for such maintenance will be provided in accordance with the law revision in April. A total of 10 billion won will be spent on the project this year — twice the amount spent last year.
Expert review of the demolition of smaller buildings may be omitted, to help owners avoid the fee for the review, which runs usually 500,000 won to 1 million won.
Enactment of the Special Act on Maintaining Empty Houses will clarify that the metropolitan and provincial governments will operate related plans, which will be set up every year in which regular inspections will be conducted.