Kim Dong-yeon: "President Yoon's Low Birthrate Measures Are Rehashed, Repeated, and Ineffective Policies"

Text and photo posted by Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, on his SNS on the 29th

Kim Dong-yeon, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, criticized President Yoon Seok-yeol's low birthrate policy as a rehash, a third repetition, and a bland policy of existing measures.

On the 29th, Kim posted on his social media service (SNS) an article titled "Comprehensive Low Birthrate Measures, Armchair Theories and Practical Answers," stating, "Faced with the ultra-low birthrate population crisis of a 'total fertility rate of 0.78,' the policies announced by the government are extremely disappointing," and evaluated them as "rehashes, third repetitions, and bland policies that lack boldness to break the existing framework and effectiveness that inspires hope for the future."

He also pointed out, "The president said that despite pouring 280 trillion won in the past 15 years, the situation worsened, but I wonder if he knows that a significant portion of that budget was merely labeled and packaged as low birthrate measures," adding, "The members of the 'Low Birthrate and Aging Committee' are equally disappointing."

He continued, "Although excellent members were invited to the 'Low Birthrate and Aging Committee,' they are not people who have directly experienced the issue," and added, "Since scholars, experts, and administrators are not the actual parties involved in childbirth and childcare issues, they may have read many books and know a lot theoretically, but few have heard the vivid voices from the field."

Governor Kim also proposed measures for addressing the low birthrate issue.

He emphasized, "There is a saying called 'practical answers to foolish questions,' but I want to interpret it as 'Our problem has the answer in the field,'" and stressed, "Change that breaks taboos starts in the field, and Gyeonggi Province is seeking low birthrate measures on the ground."

Furthermore, he said, "Recently, I had a discussion with about 100 young people who can be considered the main subjects of the policy, and the youth shed tears while talking about the difficulties they face and the solutions they think of," adding, "All the executives who attended the discussion, including myself, were deeply moved."

He also said, "Today, I had a discussion with about 400 people, including public institution employees," and promised, "Like the previous discussion, it was a valuable opportunity to listen to diverse opinions, and from now on, I will find answers together with the residents."