On September 22, 2026, the third supplementary budget bill for fiscal 2026 was given final approval in the main chamber of the Gangjin County Council. It was the 323rd regular session. In this budget bill, not a single won remained of the 2 billion won in regional extinction response fund money that had been allocated to the "Gangjin Half-Price Travel" project. It was cut in full.
In the same week, Taean County in Chungnam put forward a plan to tie 5 billion won in regional extinction response fund money over the next five years to rebate benefits and other features of "Taean Half-Price Travel." Taean County said 1.08 billion won went into this project this year.
One side cut it off, the other side increased it.
The regional extinction response fund is money that regions with declining populations decide for themselves where to spend. They can choose to draw tourists and put cash in circulation in commercial districts, or they can choose to work on the conditions for people to stay and live. Gangjin and Taean chose different sides in the same week, and both choices fall within the fund's operating rules.
The Gangjin County Council explained that this cut should not be read as a declaration that it is returning the regional extinction response fund, nor as meaning that projects to revive the local economy are unnecessary. A record that questions had been raised within the county council about the external performance of the half-price travel project remains in the minutes of the county administration questioning at the first regular session. Council member Lee Na-gyeom brought up the issue.
The revisit rate for tourists in this region was 31.1% and the average number of nights stayed was 2.6 days, falling short of the average for population-decline regions. These two figures lie behind Taean County's statement that it will shift policy toward four-season stay-type tourism including workcations. The decision to stake another 5 billion won on half-price travel also rests on the same explanation.
The rebate amount is up to 500,000 won for a family of five.
Meanwhile, Gyeongsangbuk-do raised a different point. On September 22, a regional extinction response fund meeting for cities and counties was held at Hwabaekdang in the provincial office, bringing together some 80 people including officials from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, cities and counties within the province, and Daegu City, and the province stated its intention to shift fund projects toward performance that residents actually feel. What Gyeongbuk Province has done with this fund so far has spanned projects helping young people settle and start businesses in the region, projects working on housing conditions, care, health care and living convenience, and projects increasing the resident population.
Tourist numbers and rebate disbursements are easy to count. By contrast, whether that money came back as residents' income, jobs or shop revenue requires building a separate counting method first. If only what is easy to count gets recorded as performance, the fund flows toward projects that are easy to count.
What becomes of the 2 billion won cut in Gangjin depends on whether the county comes back to the council with a reallocation plan. The outline of Taean's 5 billion won will also only take shape once it is laid out how much goes where by year. For both counties it will be decided at the next budget review.
A day that ends with a tour bus coming in and going out is different from a day where the shop lights are still on after that day ends. Which kind of day the fund increased decides whether the project succeeds or fails. The fact that the day the Gangjin County Council cut 2 billion won and the day Taean County allocated 5 billion won fell in the same week will be remembered for a long time in this year's budget reviews for population-decline regions.
