[News Today] Rural office serves to revive Jeju

[LEAD]
A new kind of “workation” is taking off in Jeju Island.

In a quiet fishing village, a shared space called Rural Office now offers young visitors a place to work, rest, and—better yet—help solve local problems.

[REPORT]
A group of visitors breaks the morning calm of a fishing village in Jeju.

These college students learned about local history and took photographs when they visited a Korean War-related site.

They saw how the locals lived by visiting a traditional market and got the chance to try various snacks.

They also helped women divers, or haenyeo, sort top shells and listened to how the sea environment around Jeju has changed.

“The sea has been ruined like this over the past three years.”

These young people came from different countries like Korea, Japan, and Spain.

They plan to stay in Jeju for four days to make a 72-second short film about such issues as climate change, declining population, and regional extinction seen from outsiders’ perspectives.

Tamai Takamasa / Student from Japan
“The problem of young people leaving the islands and never returning is also occurring in my home of Awajishima. The island environment should be made to attract young people.”

They gathered to solve these local problems at Rural Office, which opened last year.

An old ticketing building at Moseulpo Port was renovated into a shared office and community space.

People can stay in this building in Jeju, which provides an environment for workation—a concept that combines work and vacation.

They also plan to brainstorm ways to solve local issues together and revitalize the local economy.

Jeong Tae-jun / Rural Office Director
“We seek to provide customized jobs so locals and outsiders can collaborate to solve regional problems and revive the local economy.”

Such a program could become a new model for rural villages hit hard by climate change and the regional extinction crisis.

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