Gyeongsangnam-do Province held the “April Citizens’ Meeting” on the 22nd, inviting ten residents who have realized their dreams in Gyeongnam to share their success stories, discuss challenges, and propose policy suggestions. The invited residents represented a wide range of industries, including new industries, agriculture, start-ups, livestock, economy, fisheries, and forestry. In his opening remarks, Governor Park Wan-soo stated that while many young people leave the region for the Seoul metropolitan area due to employment and education opportunities, their overall sense of happiness is not necessarily higher. He emphasized that the stories of residents who have achieved their dreams in Gyeongnam through passion and a spirit of challenge can serve as an important guide for the region’s youth and future generations.

[Consumer Times | Reporter Ahn Woo-jin] The Gyeongnam Center for Returning to Fishing and Rural Communities, operated by the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency, held the “2021 Gyeongnam Returning to Fishing and Rural Communities Activation Forum” on the 16th at the Chungmu Hall of Tongyeong Marina Resort. The forum was organized to strengthen the capabilities of stakeholders involved in returning to fishing in Gyeongnam and to build a settlement network. It was attended by officials from the Fisheries Safety Technology Institute, local government officers in charge of returning-to-fishing policies, local fishermen, and prospective returnees. The program featured a series of presentations, beginning with “Formation and Operation of the Gyeongnam Youth Fishermen Association” by Lee Cheol-soo, Director of the Fisheries Safety Technology Institute, followed by “Presentation of Survey Results on the Status of Returning to Fishing and Rural Communities” by Jeong Do-seop, Head of the Gyeongnam Center, and “Strategies to Activate Returning to Fishing and Rural Communities in Gyeongnam” by Lee Seung-woo, Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Maritime Institute (KMI).

[Consumer Times | Reporter Ahn Woo-jin] The Gyeongnam Center for Returning to Fishing and Rural Communities of the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency (headed by Jeong Do-seop, hereinafter referred to as the Gyeongnam Center) announced on the 7th that Kim Tae-hyun, a representative from Tongyeong City, won the Grand Prize in the “Outstanding Return-to-Fishing and Rural Community Award” category of the 2021 Outstanding Returnees Competition. The 2021 Outstanding Returnees Competition evaluates individuals who have returned to fishing or rural communities within the past five years (since January 1, 2016). Candidates are comprehensively assessed across four criteria: effective use of government policies, excellence in business management, integration with the local community, and contribution to regional development. The competition aims to identify and recognize exemplary cases of successful settlement in fishing and rural communities. Kim Tae-hyun, who received the Grand Prize, previously worked as a researcher in the IT industry before returning to Tongyeong, Gyeongnam Province, in 2016. He entered the fish cage aquaculture business and applied his accumulated IT expertise to the field, focusing on the development of smart aquaculture technologies utilizing ICT.