That's really interesting and surprising to know the deeper degree of Mokpo city where I have never been yet.

But I agree with him

To be honest, despite rapid economic growth of Korea, it is typical and true that many of the rular places haven't been achieved rapid economic growth but rather those places have been left over.

I have been to a cruise trip with my family where they are from the 1960s generation that it is a time when Korea was under super and very much of poverty all over the country.

They were telling me one story that they did not have electricity in the village up until the age of ten-year-old which is already 1970s. Later, as they became an adult finishing high school and their bachelor degree, they moved to Seoul where the capital city of South Korea. Then, Korea has become 11th largest economy of the world and high-income country after 4 decades from the time of poor and poverty.

I also don't know much of the stories but it is true that most of the rural areas are turning like a ghost city. People tend to move to Seoul or outskirt, or suburb of a big city for the purpose of better education and access to infrastructure.

My grand mother where she lives is a quite big city. At least, it used to be a big city back in the 1960s~1970s. The name of the place is Ye-San and it is where my dad is from, too. Every time when I visited to see her in the place, I could see that there are only old people left in the village. All of their children have left the place but only the local villagers still reside in the area. Some houses are just abandoned but my grand mother is still living there just because she wants to live there. Fortunately, my uncle is looking after her right after her house.

People don't want to live in the rural area. I think this is a typical symptom of our generation. For the purpose of better education, access to the better infrastructure, and high income, people tend to choose to live in a big city despite of the high price of housing and living-expense.

It is really a good point.
There are places left over. It may happen to every where in the world. There is a fancy and big city but there are always places left over and abandoned by people. The fact is that there are still some living there unfortunately.

Now, the question comes to here.
How do we have to manage those places in terms of urban planning and development. It will be very difficult if people don't want to live there and if the place is already abandoned. Who is going to invest money there?