Seoul, May 9 (Agency) South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol on Thursday announced his plans for the establishment of a new “low birth response planning ministry” to address the issue of low fertility in the country, the Yonhap news agency reported. “In order to overcome the low birth rate, which can be considered a national emergency, we will fully mobilise all of the state’s capabilities,” Yoon was quoted by the news agency as saying in his address to the nation marking the second anniversary of his presidency. The new ministry’s head will serve as the deputy minister for social affairs and supervise education, labour, and welfare policies simultaneously, the South Korean president explained.
Yoon reportedly asked the opposition-controlled legislature to revise the government organisation law to make the creation of the state body possible. In 2023, childbirths in South Korea fell to a record low of 229,970, according to the statistics provided by the country’s national agency. The trend seems to have continued in 2024, as in the first month of the year, a total of 21,442 babies were born, which is a record low for any January in the country. A decline in the birth rate in South Korea is driven by the fact that people are more hesitant about having children due to the tough economic situation and rising prices, the media reported.