December 18, 2025_ In South Korea, 138 of 229 basic municipalities are classified as at risk of disappearing due to population decline and an aging population. The concentration of population, capital, and labor in the Seoul metropolitan area is exacerbating the demographic crisis in peripheral regions, where schools, hospitals, and shops are gradually closing. This phenomenon, known as “local extinction,” is causing a weakening of infrastructure and increasing social and fiscal costs nationwide. Government policies to relocate public entities and develop regional megacities have had limited effect in countering the demographic decline, according to the South Korean newspaper 아주경제. Experts emphasize that without an integrated relocation of industries, labor, education, and health services, population dispersion will remain insufficient to reverse the trend, jeopardizing the country’s sustainability.
