An empty house in Gyeonggi Province Korea Times file

By Lee Kyung-min

The government will establish a law to better manage empty houses all across the country, especially in remote, sparsely populated rural areas where unoccupied, abandoned residences may be used in violent crimes often involving at-risk, vulnerable people, according to officials, Monday.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said they will commission a 100 million won ($77,820) study over the course of the next year to determine the efficacy of current related laws and review measures to improve efficiency in the management of unused real estate becoming increasingly wasteful.

The collective efforts of the three ministries followed criticisms over a steep rise in the number of empty residences in recent years, certain to climb in the coming years in a fast-aging society defined by a nosedive in population due to the ultra-low birth rate.

Data provided by the three ministries showed that over 1.51 million, or 8 percent, of 18.52 million houses in the country remained empty in 2020, up by over 40 percent from 2015. The figure is expected to soar further to over 10 percent, comparable to Japan's world-highest rate of 13.8 percent.

The three ministries will first and foremost set up an integrated online platform that offers a comprehensive view of related data currently scattered across municipal government organizations.

The primary goal is to remove administrative red tape that has limited the responsibilities of the land ministry to empty houses in metropolitan areas and the rural affairs ministry to those in rural areas.

The policy drive will be outlined after the study findings are delivered, helping the country map out a long-term resources management strategy, according to the ministries.

"We expect this study would be a meaningful first step toward solving the longstanding problem in underdeveloped coastal and remote areas," a rural affairs ministry official said. "We will work closely with the other two ministries and municipalities to establish an efficient management system as soon as possible."