According to the 2024 administrative survey, approximately 58.3% of Korea’s 134,000 vacant homes are concentrated in rural areas, where the vacancy rate is more than twice that of urban regions, based on the 2023 Population and Housing Census. In particular, towns (eup) are experiencing a rapid increase in vacant multi-unit housing, while townships (myeon) are facing a growing number of vacant, aging single-family homes amid simultaneous population decline and demographic aging—conditions expected to worsen in the coming years.

The government has established a legal foundation for the remediation and utilization of rural vacant houses through amendments to the Agricultural and Fishing Villages Improvement Act in 2020 and 2024, and has expanded budgetary support by announcing a series of comprehensive measures between 2023 and 2025. However, despite these policy directions, concrete implementation strategies for how these measures should be applied and operated across diverse rural contexts remain insufficient.

Therefore, to ensure that vacant house management aligns with the characteristics and needs of each region, it is essential to develop a tailored management system that classifies targets for public intervention through an integrated assessment of vacant house types, potential uses, and surrounding environments. Such a system would enable more effective allocation of limited public resources and support more strategic interventions in rural areas.