New ministry to boost population in South Korea

South Korea President Yoon Suk-yeol of the country’s shrinking birth rate Declaring it as a ‘national emergency’, it has announced to set up a ministry to deal with this issue.

South Korea’s birth rate has been hit hard and is set to drop dramatically from 2023 as women worry regarding their careers. Another issue is the financial cost of raising children, which is why Korean couples are deciding not to have children or to delay it.

Women mostly cited the emotional and practical burden of child rearing, lost career opportunities and financial costs, the first of its kind to affect national populations globally.

On Thursday, President Yoon said that South Korea’s parliament will be requested to support the establishment of a new ministry called the Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counter-Planning.

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Announcing a new policy, he said: ‘We will mobilize all capacities to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency for the country.’

There are many factors involved in the country’s population crisis, but for most Korean couples, frustration with the rising cost of living and declining quality of life are among the main causes.

In his first press conference following 21 months, the President also emphasized on improving the performance of the economy. He identified an emergency in the declining birth rate in the coming three years of his term.

He said: ‘I think the main thing going forward is actually the economy. Corporate growth and job creation are also important, but I think what is more important is finding the pain points in every person’s life and trying to solve them.’

A banner behind them read, ‘We take responsibility for this’.

In this May 9, 2024 file photo, people listen to a speech by South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol at a railway station in Seoul (AFP)

The new ministry will address these challenges, including a record low birth rate and an increasingly aging population. “This is not something we can take the time to work on,” he said.

South Korea’s government and policymakers are scrambling to find new and innovative measures to address the crisis of fewer children and declining birth rates. In 2023, the country’s birth rate per woman decreased to 0.72, which is the lowest national birth rate.

Under the government’s scheme to encourage parents, South Korean couples receive between 350 million and 500 million won in financial support from the time their children are born until they reach the age of seven through various incentives and support programs. get

The development comes as the head of a South Korean firm is offering employees up to 59,000 pounds (100 million won) to help them have children and boost the country’s birth rate. Bo Yong Group, a construction firm based in Seoul, plans to pay employees 10 million won each time they give birth.