South Korea converts vacant rural homes into village hotels, co-working hubs

South Korea's government is moving to convert thousands of abandoned rural homes into decentralized village hotels and co-working spaces, drawing on a Japanese model that now attracts 180,000 visitors a year, The Korea Times reported Tuesday.

The push aims to reverse decades of rural population decline by treating empty properties as community assets rather than liabilities — a reframe that carries lessons for any region grappling with uneven urban growth and remote-work migration patterns.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs unveiled the strategy at the Rural Empty House Regeneration Forum in April 2026, which featured Shunpei Shimada, CEO of Satoyume Corp., the firm behind Japan's Kosuge Village project. That initiative draws 180,000 visitors annually and has become a regional benchmark for community-led regeneration, according to The Korea Times.

The "village hotel" concept repurposes separate structures within a single community to handle distinct hospitality functions — one building serves as reception, another as lodging, a third as dining or spa. A former brewery in Mungyeong, transformed into a cultural space called Sanyang Jeonghaengso, drew 60,000 tourists last year as an early model of the approach.

To spur adoption, the government doubled its demolition subsidy ceiling to 16 million won — roughly $11,540 — per house. Officials are also expanding the Vacant House Bank, an online platform linking empty rural properties with city residents considering relocation, and drafting a special law to simplify permitting for rural home restorations.

On Jeju Island, the Hankyeong district has been designated a Startup Village for digital nomads, where 15 derelict homes will be converted into co-working spaces and long-term residences.

"It is essential to view vacant houses not as blight, but as a regional resource," Jeon Han-young, director of the Rural Policy Bureau, said, according to The Korea Times.

The revitalization effort positions South Korea alongside other Northeast Asian governments seeking to slow rural vacancy rates, with villages in North Gyeongsang Province including Myeongyeong among the early participants in the emerging national framework.