‘Avoided facilities’ is a thing of the past… Competition to attract correctional facilities in four Gyeongbuk counties

Local governments in Gyeongbuk Province, whose population is shrinking, are competing to attract correctional facilities that were once considered shunned.

It is interpreted as an idea to respond to the disappearance of rural areas by encouraging correctional facility officials and their families to settle down and to increase consumption to revitalize the local economy.

According to each city and county in Gyeongbuk on the 18th, four local governments in the province, including Yeongdeok-gun, Yeongyang-gun, Uiseong-gun, and Cheongsong-gun, have begun to host correctional facilities for the Ministry of Justice.

The four counties submitted an application, a type of letter of intent, to the Ministry of Justice, and plan to submit a final invitation proposal by the 4th of next month after conducting a public opinion survey of residents and obtaining consent from the county council.

All four regions have one thing in common: they are rural areas and are facing a threat of extinction due to their declining populations.

As of September, the population was 32,477 in Yeongdeok, 15,960 in Yeongyang, 47,861 in Uiseong, and 25,557 in Cheongsong.

All four regions maintain small populations of less than 50,000 people.

The Ministry of Justice plans to build four correctional facilities across the country with a capacity of 1,000 people and 250 employees each.

In addition, we plan to hire local talent as correctional officers and purchase locally produced goods and agricultural products.

Accordingly, the four counties that are concerned about the disappearance of local areas expect that by hosting correctional facilities, population will increase as employees and their families settle down, and consumption in local commercial areas such as lodging and restaurants will increase due to visitors.

The participation of local construction companies in the construction process can also help revitalize the local economy.

Yeongdeok-gun has currently selected three candidate sites and plans to conduct an opinion survey among residents from the 20th to the 22nd and submit a proposal for hosting with the consent of the county council.

Once a correctional facility candidate site is selected, the county is reviewing a plan to allocate additional annual project expenses as compensation for attracting the town or township in accordance with the support plan for the selected candidate site.

Yeongyang-gun proposed three locations as candidate sites, including two in Samsan-ri, Ipam-myeon and one in Sangcheong-ri, Cheonggi-myeon.

Yeongyang County Mayor Oh Do-chang said, “Housing a correctional facility is a golden opportunity to inject new vitality into Yeongyang County.”

Uiseong-gun is currently reviewing two candidate sites and plans to select one as the final candidate site by collecting opinions from residents.

Uiseong-gun Mayor Choi Yu-cheol said, “We will listen fully to residents’ opinions and work closely with related organizations to do our best to attract correctional facilities that can coexist with the local community.”

Cheongsong-gun already has four prisons, including the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd North Gyeongsang Prisons and the Gyeongbuk Vocational Training Prison, so it is claimed that there is relatively little resistance from residents.

In a recent proposal sent to the Ministry of Justice, the Cheongsong County Council emphasized, “The Cheongsong community has been with the correctional facility for over 40 years since the opening of the Cheongsong Protection and Detention Center in 1981,” and added, “Smooth cooperation is possible even in the process of creating a new correctional facility.”