In South Korea, a Ministry of Low Birth Rates must avert the ‘national emergency’

For years, South Korean governments have been trying to combat the population crisis. South Korea has the lowest birth rate in the world – a woman now gives birth to an average of 0.72 children – and this is leading to a population decline that is likely to result in major socio-economic problems. But support measures to encourage Koreans to have more children, such as providing extra allowances and cheap mortgages and the introduction of paid paternity leave, always yielded no results. The costs: approximately 200 billion euros.

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced on Thursday that he wanted to tackle the birth problem more seriously with the arrival of a Ministry of Low Birth Rates. Standing in front of a sign that read ‘this is where it stops now’, Yoon admitted during a press conference that the Korean government has done far too little in recent years to prop up the ever-decreasing birth rate. The “national emergency,” as Yoon calls the birth decline, is “not a matter we can take the time to deal with.” The arrival of the ministry must ensure a structural approach to the population crisis.

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The decline in births, resulting in an aging population, means that fewer and fewer workers have to pay for healthcare and pensions. It also leads to increasing personnel shortages and the South Korean army has to make do with fewer conscripts. The high costs of living and education and the severe lack of affordable housing are regularly cited as the main reasons for the declining number of births.

Deep-rooted social problems

However, experts cite other causes. According to Professor Lee Joo-hoo, inequality, including between rich and poor, is the main cause of the annual declining birth rate, she recently told NRC. Other, deep-rooted social problems – for example the stigma against single parents, discrimination against non-traditional partnerships and barriers for same-sex couples – are also believed to play a role. According to critics, the birth crisis is therefore being treated with a one-sided focus on economic stimulus measures.

The question is whether the Korean government will shift its attention to measures other than just economic ones. President Yoon did not reveal details on Thursday about what plans the yet-to-be-formed Ministry of Low Birth Rates will make in the coming years. However, he emphasized that the national government should “try harder to look for the inconveniences in the lives of Koreans,” instead of looking only at economic factors for the birth decline.

If the arrival of the ministry does not break the negative trend, it is expected that in fifty years there will only be up to 36 million South Koreans, 30 percent fewer than now.

Handbag scandal

Yoon presented his plan for the new department at his first news conference in 631 days, which he held to mark his second year as president. The conservative president promised in April to communicate better with the press and public, after his People Power Party suffered a heavy defeat in the parliamentary elections.

Yoon has been struggling with very low popularity ratings for a long time due to the high cost of living, the housing shortage, and a long-term doctors’ strike that he has been unable to end.

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Moreover, Yoon is under fire due to a number of scandals surrounding his wife Kim Keon-hee. Yoon apologized for the first time on Thursday for an incident in 2022, when Kim appeared to accept an expensive Dior handbag in exchange for an audience in a secretly recorded video. Until now, Yoon had only said he “regretted” the issue while accusing the opposition of a political trap.

The opposition, which has a large majority in parliament, is demanding investigations into this issue and into another scandal involving Kim, over alleged stock price manipulation. Yoon rejected these demands during his press conference as “political manipulation”.

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