Analysis and evaluation of regional characteristics for rural aging in KoreaWith the state of empty houses and abandoned farmlands

摘要

Aging and depopulation phenomenon is threatening the sustainability of rural areas in Korea. The rate of elderly population over 65 years (ageing rate) was 11.3% in 2010. Korea Statistics expected that Korea will be aged society' in 2018， and will step into post-aged society in 2026. Specially, rural ageing is more serious than the urban ageing. The ageing rate of rural region ("eup" and "myeon") was 20.9% ("eup": 13.5%, "myeon" 27.8%), whereas the ageing rate of city region ("dong") was 9.2% (KOSIS, 2010). With the rural ageing, depopulation of rural village is recognized as a serious threat to sustainability of rural regions. The number of depopulated village(less than 20 households) was 3,901 out of a total of 36,496 rural villages in 2010.