Hometown Love Donation Program: A New Path of Solidarity and Innovation in Korea’s Era of Regional Decline

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The moon seen from a rural home. There aren’t many people left in the countryside, and the Hometown Love Donation Program was introduced as one way to address this challenge.(Photo by Milly) 


 What Is the Hometown Love Donation Program?

 

The Hometown Love Donation Program is a system that began in Korea in 2023. It allows individuals to donate to a region other than the one they currently live in.

For example, even if I live in Seoul, I can make a donation to Gangwon Province if I feel connected to that region.

 

Those who donate receive tax deductions and can receive local specialty products or thank-you gifts within a certain percentage of their donation amount. In other words, even if someone has moved away from their hometown, they can still support the region with their resources and care—and receive tax benefits and local gifts in return. It is a system designed to enable people to invest in places that matter to them.

 

Why This Program Matters

 

As discussed in earlier posts, Korea faces severe population concentration in the Seoul metropolitan area. Meanwhile, many rural regions are experiencing depopulation, aging, and youth outmigration, leading to fears of local extinction.

 

👀Go to related article

 Korea’s Regional Decline and the Role of the Social Economy & Social Innovation: A Crisis and an Opportunity


The Hometown Love Donation Program is not simply a welfare or subsidy initiative. It represents a citizen-led model of solidarity that connects cities and rural regions. Donors can voluntarily choose regions they want to support—whether it is their hometown or simply a place of interest. Local governments gain not only financial resources but also new external supporters and networks.

It is a shift from “donation” to relationship-building and value-centered connection.

 

Can This Program Help Prevent Regional Decline?

 

According to Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety, nationwide donations totaled roughly 65 billion KRW in the program’s first year (2023). In 2024, this amount increased to 87.9 billion KRW.

 

Local governments have used these funds for projects such as healthcare improvements, youth and vulnerable-group welfare, and cultural and public service programs. For example, Dong-gu District in Gwangju supported a baseball team for adolescents with developmental disabilities.

 

By gaining external financial resources beyond their regular budgets, local governments strengthen both their fiscal autonomy and diversity of funding sources. For citizens living in cities—or those who have moved away from their hometowns—the system creates a new pathway for meaningful engagement.

And for local communities, this can evolve into a sustainable activation model, not a one-time donation, as relationships and community assets accumulate.

 

This suggests we can approach regional decline not solely as a demographic or budget issue but as an opportunity for community renewal and regional resilience.

 

A Social Innovation Perspective: Meaning Beyond the System Itself

 

More than a donation-and-gift mechanism, the Hometown Love Donation Program could function as an innovative approach to addressing Korea’s structural imbalances between urban and rural regions.

 

👉Strengthening citizen-driven governance: Local governments, residents, and external supporters collaboratively shape and sustain communities.

👉Reconnecting cities and rural areas: Restoring the broken relationship between “hometown” and “urban life.”

👉Rebuilding regional resilience: Shifting from one-off aid to sustainable local funding and resident-centered operations.

 

Seen through this lens, the program becomes not just a policy tool but a platform for social innovation.

 

Conclusion: From “Donation” to “Solidarity” and “Community Regeneration”

 

The Hometown Love Donation Program is more than a financial support measure—it is a new social model that places people, values, and solidarity at the center, reconnecting cities and rural areas.

 

Korea’s intertwined challenges—population decline, regional extinction, and community fragmentation—are not only crises but also a chance to redesign how we relate to our regions and to one another.

 

At the heart of this effort are local governments, citizens, and people who believe that small, meaningful actions can change communities.

 

 

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