By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter

A town in South Gyeongsang Province is cutting back on festivities and will direct the saved budget for hiring new rural workers.

The Geochang County administration announced Monday that it will cancel 34 of 106 annual festivals and other events. The cutback will give the city an additional 740 million won to spend on creating new rural jobs, especially ahead of the farming season.

``We will eventually reduce by half the more than 100 events that normally take place here so that we can help more people find work,'' said Yang Dong-in, chief of the local administration.

Due to an increase in the elderly and female populations, rural towns like Geochang are undergoing a chronic labor shortage.

Geochang aims to eradicate the problem while creating new employment opportunities for those in need of work. In particular, those in the low-income brackets will be given priority in being hired.

The town will look for people to work on apple, grape and onion fields and undertake general management of farms and recycling and cleaning duties.

``Our citizens will have more jobs and a cleaner Geochang,'' an official said.

The move is seen as a good administrative example of exercising a principled budget by spending money for pressing issues and stepping aside from the rush to host various events and festivals.

Local governments consider events and festivals as a way to boost their economy. However, some hosted by local administrations have been criticized for their lack of purpose and wastefulness.

Geochang has been active in assisting its citizens to find jobs in cooperation with religious organizations and education institutions.

It recently opened education and consultation centers for teaching farming techniques and aiding job seekers.

jhdo@koreatimes.co.kr