The Korea Rural Economic Institute hosted the first Korea Islands Forum in Seoul on May 25, jointly with the Korea Island Development Institute and the Korea Maritime Institute.

Participants from the three organizations discussed ways to promote balanced development for islands and how to cope with the rural decline with the title “The Government’s Regional Balanced Development Directions and Sustainable Development for Islands.” The forum aimed to share ideas on the topic as the incoming Yoon Suk-yeol administration selected revitalizing rural communities as one of its six core policy directions.

At the conference, the Korea Maritime Institute discussed the declining status of coastal areas and solutions to cope with it. KREI presented successful cases of rural communities for balanced development and insights applicable to the development of coastal areas, while the Korea Island Development Institute shared ideas on sustainable development plans for islands.