Kim Jong-in: "Low Birthrate Issue, Important Factors Like Housing Prices and Education... Must Be Addressed Comprehensively"

Kim Mi-ae: "A Korea Raised Together... Policy Must Undergo a Major Shift"

Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, is delivering an opening remark at the Special Committee on Low Birthrate Measures held at the National Assembly on the 1st. Photo by Yoon Dong-joo doso7@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Kim Jong-in, Emergency Committee Chairman of the United Future Party, stated on the 1st, "I believe the low birthrate issue is the most important task above all," and added, "We need to think coldly about whether the future of the Republic of Korea can be guaranteed with the current number of births."

At the Low Birthrate Countermeasure Special Committee held at the National Assembly that afternoon, Chairman Kim said, "Generally, people do not take the low birthrate issue seriously, but South Korea is the country with the lowest number of births in the world," and added, "If the birthrate decreases, the economy will also face problems, and various systems established so far cannot operate properly."

Chairman Kim emphasized, "We need to clearly understand the reasons why people recently do not want to marry or have children," and said, "Since there are multiple factors, we must comprehensively focus on addressing this issue."

He diagnosed, "The most important factor is the high housing prices," and continued, "Next is education. Because education tends to reinforce inequality, a trend has emerged that 'it is better not to have children.'"

Kim Mi-ae, a United Future Party lawmaker and chairperson of the special committee, stated, "First, we use the term 'low birthrate' instead of 'low fertility,'" and explained, "Low birthrate, the biggest issue facing Korean society, is rooted not only in women but also in inequality of opportunity. The special committee was formed based on the proposal to approach this from a broad perspective including education, childcare, and housing."

Lawmaker Kim said, "The slogan is 'Raising Korea Together,'" and added, "We need a major shift from state-led childbirth support policies to policies that support the actual life of having and raising children, and policies where the state and citizens raise children together."