Field Forum on Boosting Rural Social Economy for Happy Residents Held

The Korea Rural Economic Institute (KREI) held the 2nd KREI Saengsaeng Field Forum in 2018 on the theme of “Boosting the Rural Social Economy for Happy Residents” at Wanju Local Food Happy Station on June 21.

The Moon Jaein government selected promoting the social economy, various economic activities for solving social problems such as polarization and creating jobs and for the public good, as one of the major policy tasks. The government established “Measures to Boost the Social Economy” at a meeting of the Presidential Committee on Jobs last October, and has actively implemented them. 

KREI senior research fellow Gouk Seungyong emphasized the need to develop models for the rural social economy in a presentation, “Why Do Rural Communities Need the Social Economy?” According to him, because pan-government measures to promote the social economy focus on large cities, it is necessary to develop customized models for rural areas with a low fiscal self-reliance ratio whose active participation cannot be expected.

In a presentation, “2025 Plan for Wanju Social Goods,” Na Yeongsam, Director General for Social Innovation in Wanju-gun, announced the plan of Wanju-gun. The presentations were followed by a discussion chaired by Director Song Miryung of the Department of Agricultural & Rural Policy Research, KREI.