Jeju's Josu-ri to Become a Testing Ground for 60 Startups... Field Trials Seek Solutions to Vacant Homes and an Aging Population

【Financial News, Jeju—Jung Yong-bok】 A rural village in western Jeju is being transformed into a field-testing site where startup technologies will be used to address care for older adults, vacant homes and environmental problems. Around 60 companies will test whether solutions such as AI health management, vacant-home revitalization and drone-based environmental surveys can be applied to everyday problems identified directly by residents.
According to Jeju Special Self-Governing Province on the 17th, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Korea Startup Forum will hold the “Startups Draw Jeju” program in and around Josu-ri, Hangyeong-myeon, Jeju City, from that day through the 19th. The program is jointly hosted by Jeju Special Self-Governing Province and Korea Startup Forum and organized by Jeju Tourism Organization.
About 60 companies from among the members of Korea Startup Forum are participating. The challenges Josu-ri presented to the companies fall into three areas: health care for older adults, the use of vacant homes, and disease control and environmental cleanup.
The program’s defining feature is that the village identified the problems first. The companies will apply their existing technologies and services at sites in Josu-ri to determine whether they can be used in residents’ daily lives.
Digital and AI technologies will be used for health care for older adults. Kakao will introduce a digital education program for seniors, while Saembom Solution will showcase an AI phone-based family health management service. The participants will examine whether these approaches can help older residents use digital devices more easily and check on their well-being and health by phone.
The program will also use AI to transform residents’ current faces into images of how they looked 10 or 20 years ago and print the results. It is designed to let residents experience the technology firsthand without finding it difficult or intimidating.
For vacant homes, the participants will look for ways to reuse them rather than simply demolish them. Participating companies will visit six or seven vacant homes in Josu-ri and examine the Gosan Dodeul House case, which Dazayo renovated from a vacant Jeju home into lodging facilities and now operates.
Korea Startup Forum will examine whether vacant homes in Josu-ri can be used as workation facilities where employees of member companies can work remotely while on vacation, or as long-term living spaces where entrepreneurs can stay for a set period. A workation is a form of employment in which people work remotely while taking a break at a vacation destination. Unlike short-term tourists who stay overnight and leave, workation users may remain in the area for several days or weeks. In depopulating rural areas, this is being considered a way to increase the living population.
The issue of vacant homes in rural areas is not limited to Jeju. The government also strengthened its system for managing and improving rural and fishing-village vacant homes this year. Thirty-two cities and counties currently participate in the Rural Vacant Home Bank. Since the service began last August, about 160 vacant homes have been listed for sale, and 45 have been sold.
While the public sector surveys vacant homes and connects buyers and tenants with sales and rental information, Josu-ri is testing whether private-sector demand for workation and long-term living can be connected to actual models for using vacant homes.
Drones will be used to address environmental problems. Sejong Engineering will film areas including Sinchang Coast with drones and mark locations where trash is concentrated on a map. This approach can quickly assess pollution across a wider area than having people walk along the coast and inspect it piece by piece.
Hyundai Bangyeok Solution will provide disinfection and pest-control services at the former Josu Elementary School and in the surrounding village. Participants will also take part in environmental cleanup activities.
A project connecting Jeju tourism startups with outside companies will also be held. Sixteen J-Startup companies nurtured by Jeju Tourism Organization will hold business meetings and product evaluations with members of Korea Startup Forum. The participants will explore the potential for expanding tourism content tailored to Jeju, including trail running, sound walking and natural dyeing using materials from Jeju’s natural environment.
On the 18th, participants will discuss follow-up cooperation on Jeju’s key issues, including energy and climate, integrated management of international students and foreign workers, access to medical care for older adults, and drone and AI safety management.
Jeju Governor Wi Seong-gon, Korea Startup Forum Chairman Kim Jae-won, SOCAR CEO Jaeuk Park and Korea Startup Forum CEO Choi Ji-young will also hold a policy dialogue on Jeju’s issues and the direction of cooperation with startups.
Jeju Special Self-Governing Province plans to identify additional projects with Korea Startup Forum and consider follow-up cooperation based on the field-trial results from Josu-ri. The next challenge is whether connecting problems identified by residents with companies’ technologies can lead beyond a one-time event to an actual project that improves life in rural areas.


[email protected] Jung Yong-bok Reporter