Health ministry drafts rules for age-friendly city designations

The health ministry said Thursday it is taking public comments through Oct. 20 on a draft notice that would establish how local governments are designated as "age-friendly cities," a status that would run for five years.

The designation is reserved for localities that let older residents take an active part in local policy and development and that run policies covering empowerment, care, safety and a healthy, active old age. The ministry's review covers each local government's organizational and staffing systems and its record on related projects.

Before designating a city, the ministry must notify the relevant metropolitan, provincial or municipal government of the criteria, procedures and methods and post the notice on its website.

The draft would create a deliberation committee under the health minister to rule on designations, redesignations and revocations, and set out how local governments apply and are reviewed, with designated governments reporting annually and the ministry able to recommend improvements. The ministry could name specialist institutions to provide training, advice, cooperation networks, publicity and planning support, and designated cities could receive extra points in project evaluations, pilot programs and awards, as well as support for exchanges through international networks.

"It is meaningful that this legal revision introduced the age-friendly city system, which lets local governments respond systematically to aging ahead of South Korea's entry into a super-aged society in 2025," said Yeom Min-seop, the ministry's director-general for senior policy.

The system dates to December 2023, when the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Welfare of Older Persons Act. The ministry said it spent roughly two years since then analyzing cases at home and abroad, including the World Health Organization's Global Network for Age-Friendly Cities and Communities and ordinances from about 80 local governments.

The ministry said it will enact and enforce the notice after the comment period, and plans to announce this year's designation schedule after weighing how prepared interested local governments are.