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President Park announces plans to address population crisis

February 6, 2015

President Park Geun-hye presides over a plenary meeting of the Presidential Commission on the Aging Society and Population Policy at Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul on Feb. 6, 2015. (Yonhap)

SEOUL (Yonhap) — President Park Geun-hye called Friday for measures to address South Korea’s low birthrate and aging population, which experts say could undermine the vitality of Asia’s fourth-largest economy.

South Korea’s birthrate stood at 1.19 in 2013, the lowest among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 mostly rich nations.

South Korea has tried in vain to boost a falling birthrate as the rising cost of raising a child and job shortages have discouraged women from having more children.

Park said the next five year is the golden time in handling the country’s population crisis marked by the low birthrate and rapidly aging population.

“We can transform a crisis into an opportunity and create a sustainable growth engine only when we properly cope with” the population crisis, Park said in a meeting meant to address both issues at the presidential office.

By 2018, South Korea is expected to become an “aged society,” in which 14 percent of the population is 65 or older.

She called for, among other things, measures to lower the cost of raising a child and better help women juggle home life and work.

Experts warn that the aging population, coupled with the low birthrate, could pose a serious threat to the nation’s economy as it could lead to fewer working people and increased spending on health and welfare.

South Korea plans to announce a set of measures to address the low birthrate and aging population later this year, according to the presidential office.