South Korea to Create New Ministry to Handle Low Birth Rate
- Pixabay.
South Korea – South Korea will create a deputy prime minister-level ministry tasked with tackling the low birthrate and aging population as the country faces a demographic crisis, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on Monday.
The government said the new ministry, tentatively named the Ministry of Population Strategy Planning, will serve as a control tower for demographic issues, including the low birthrate, aging population, workforce and immigration.
The ministry will draw up population policies and medium- to long-term strategies, taking over the tasks currently managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Economy and Finance.
Negara Korea Selatan
- Pixabay
It will coordinate and oversee policies encompassing all related matters such as education, labor and welfare.
Moreover, it will also be tasked with allocating and coordinating budgets for combating low birthrates across various related ministries.
So far, matters involving the low birthrate have been handled by several different ministries, including the health, gender equality and education ministries.
The Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy has served as a control tower, but its role was rather symbolic because, like other committees, it is not authorized to implement policies.
“The newly formed ministry will aim to strengthen the nation's workforce policy as we are currently experiencing declining births and a shrinking population. There is a mismatch between labor demand and labor supply in each sector," the ministry official said during a press briefing, as quoted from the Korea Times site.
He added, "In order to avoid this, greater attention should be given to strengthening the overall social fabric and ensuring a workforce for older adults and foreign workers,”
The government will propose a related bill in July for the launch of the ministry.
President Yoon Suk Yeol asked the opposition parties, which control the 22nd National Assembly, to cooperate in revising the Government Organization Act for the establishment of the new ministry.
