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As the number of vacant homes in rural and fishing villages increases, it is estimated that there are over 60,000 homes nationwide. Long-term leases of these vacant homes and remodeling, and accommodation business like Airbnb will soon be allowed.



Reporter Park Chan-geun reports.



<Reporter> You can



see empty houses that have been neglected for a long time through the vineyards in rural areas of Hwaseong City, Gyeonggi Province.



[Kiho No/Gyeonggi Hwaseong-si Farmers: An empty house.

There are many.

It's been many years already.

All 2 houses were demolished here.

It's complicated.

Well.]



Last year, the number of vacant houses in rural areas exceeded 60,000, of which 19,000 are still enough to live.



In 2017, a venture company rented an empty house in a farming and fishing village in Jeju Island for about 10 years, then remodeled it and operated it as an accommodation facility.



However, in July of last year, the business was suspended for violating the law.



This is because the current Rural Development Act stipulates that the residents must provide lodging and cooking facilities while living in their own homes for farmers and fishermen.



There was also a strong backlash from the farming and fishing villages and inhabitants industry, with more than 28,000 houses.



After that, a conflict resolution organization that gathered rural residents, businesses, and local governments was put into operation, and a final agreement came out.



It is a condition that no more than 50 houses are open within 300 days a year in five basic municipalities nationwide.



The local government also decided to contribute to the village fund.



[Nam-Jun/Representative of lodging companies utilizing vacant houses in rural and fishing villages: As more people come to the village, the whole neighborhood will be better.

We will grow pies in rural areas.] For



safety management, you must have a response system such as manpower and facilities, and you must subscribe to insurance.



[Seongju-in/Dr., Korea Rural Economic Research Institute: As tourists come in, the quiet town becomes noisy and safety management issues...

.] The



government plans to apply this win-win model to shared accommodations in the city center to resolve the conflict over regulations.



(Video coverage: 1st, Video editing: Jo Moo-hwan, CG: Choi Haneul)