South Korea Declares National Emergency On Population Amidst Falling Birth Rate
On June 19, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol attended a meeting of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, alongside representatives from the Finance Ministry and Welfare Ministry, and declared a “national emergency on population.”
This was the first population committee meeting that the President personally convened as chair since March 2023. The meeting aimed to roll out measures to combat Korea’s falling birthrate. According to Yoon, these new measures have been designed after a reassessment of the government’s previous policies, which have been proven ineffective so far.
In the first quarter of 2024, Korea’s fertility rate (the number of children a woman has in her lifetime) hit another new record low at 0.76 and is projected to fall even lower to 0.68 this year. Recognizing the urgency of the situation, the Yoon government is now set to launch a comprehensive emergency response system.
Some of the novel measures discussed at this meeting include government funded free education and care for children between ages 3 to 5 and the introduction of a new marriage tax deduction. President Yoon stated that the government will also establish a new ministry under the name of the Population Strategy Department to oversee the development of national strategies that address the population issues of Korea. Until the launch of this ministry, however, the “emergency population response meeting” will be convened monthly by the population committee.
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