People and Money Flocking to Chungcheong Province

Investigation results showed that money and people are flocking to Chungcheong Province, including Gongju City Yeongi-gun, the new capital site. Also, the number of people changing homes due to the recession decreased by 16 percent.

According to the National Statistical Office (NSO) and the Bank of Korea (BOK) on August 17, the net moving population (moving in population minus moving out population) in the Chungcheong provincial area during the second quarter (April-June) increased by four times in just a year, and the increased rates for loans in financial institutions were the highest in the country. The NSO reported that the net moving population for Chungcheong province was 8,072 people for the second quarter of this year, 4.1 times higher than last year’s second quarter of 1,972 people.

It was analyzed that with the government’s capital relocation project and the development of a high-tech industrial complex in Tangjeong in Asan, South Chungcheong Province, people are newly flowing in and the residents who left the area are making a u-turn back to the province.

In the case of Cheonan City, which had been a candidate for capital relocation, the net moving population for the second quarter tripled to 8,016 from the previous year and came first in the moving-in population of the 33 cities, counties, and districts of Chungcheong province. The moving population of Yeongi-gun, which has been settled as the new capital cite, increased by 23.3 times to 2,838 people, jumping from last year’s ninth place to second place.

Also, according to the BOK’s report on loan trends for the first half of 2004, the increased rate for loans in the Chungcheong area was the highest in the country at 6.14 percent. Following were 6.11 percent in Kyunggi, 4.6 percent in Yeungnam, 3.1 percent in Seoul, and 1.4 percent in the Honam region.

Meanwhile, the NSO reported that the moving population fell to its lowest level in just three years and nine months due to the recession and the slackening real estate market. Those who changed their dwelling place numbered some 2,043,623, decreasing by 16.9 percent from the first quarter and 16.4 percent from the previous year during the same period. This figure is the lowest since the moving population marked 1,910,438 in the third quarter (July-September) in 2000.

The NSO analyzed that people were moving less from the continuous recession and dull real estate market.

With the continuing stagnation in service industries such as wholesale and retail market, the moving population of men passed the number of women, who are more employed in the service business, for the first time since the third quarter of 1997.

Jong sik Kong Kang-Woon Lee kong@donga.com kwoon90@donga.com