Goesan-gun, a small county in the rural parts of North Chungcheong Province, has recently averted a severe population decline thanks to a substantial inflow of immigrants.
The immigrant population of Geosan was 1,850 in 2024, according to the Korean Statistical Information Service, marking an all-time high and more than doubling from 904 in 2015. It increased by 167 compared to the previous year, continuing an upward trend.
The county's population decreased to 36,252 in 2024 compared to 38,787 in 2015.
While it is still categorized as a region with a high risk of population collapse — comparing the female population aged 20-39 to the senior population in the area — the drop was significantly lower than neighboring regions like Boeun-gun, also categorized as high risk. Boeun logged a population drop of 3,769 in the same period, a 10.9 percent decrease compared to Geosan's 6.5 percent.
Most of the foreign residents of Goesan were workers, with 73.8 percent aged 20-30. Vietnamese nationals accounted for 27.6 percent, followed by Nepalese (13.8 percent), Chinese (10.6 percent) and Cambodians (8.6 percent).
The influx of foreign nationals is largely attributed to available jobs, as many rural regions in Korea have adopted systems to supplement the labor shortage with foreign workers. Geosan was the first Korean region to implement the "seasonal worker" system — issuing short-term residency to foreign workers in agriculture, fishery and other fields with seasonal labor demand spikes.
The county appears to be becoming multicultural as well, as a 2023 statistic from Geosan showed that 541 residents in the region were immigrants by marriage or naturalized Koreans. A total of 319 children were born in mixed-ethnicity families.
Song In-hun, the chief of Geosan, said the county government has implemented various projects for the successful settlement of foreign-born residents and multicultural families.
"We will spare no support, including for employment and for visits to their home countries, so that they will become proud members of our society," he was quoted as saying.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
