[Manbo Jeongdam] Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo: "Let's have a 'Low Birthrate Constitutional Amendment' in the next presidential election"

"Low Birthrate Issue is a National Crisis"
"Let's Make Southern Gyeonggi Korea's Silicon Valley"
"Dialogue and Compromise Lost Due to Jinyoung and Fandom Politics"

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo's term ends on May 29. Only three months remain. Yet, he is still working against the clock. Even on the day of the interview, his schedule was tight before and after. His aides earnestly requested, "Please adhere to the scheduled interview time."

When Speaker Kim proposed at the New Year's press briefing on January 4 to "include population measures in the Constitution," it felt fresh, but it also made me wonder, 'Why the Speaker of the National Assembly?' To hear his answer directly, I met him on the 27th of last month at the Speaker's office in the National Assembly Main Building in Yeouido, Seoul. He explained his thoughts at length, citing various cases and figures.

Speaker of the National Assembly Jinpyo Kim diagnosed, "The low birthrate issue is a national crisis." Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

It feels unusual that the Speaker of the National Assembly has presented the low birthrate issue as an agenda and warned of its seriousness. Is there a particular trigger?

I have served in public office for about 50 years?30 years in government and 20 years in the National Assembly. I intend to finish my public service career without running for election again after serving as Speaker. If I am receiving a salary funded by taxpayers, shouldn't I focus on the most necessary work for the country? I thought solving the problem of the declining human resources, which is South Korea's core competitiveness, is the most important. The crisis has begun.

Is the population cliff issue a national crisis?

Yes. It is the biggest crisis we face. Despite investing 380 trillion won in low birthrate budgets over 17 years since 2006, the total fertility rate has decreased from 1.13 in 2006 to 0.72 in 2023. A New York Times columnist even described South Korea's situation as surpassing the population decline caused by the Black Death in 14th-century Europe. A reduction in human resources goes beyond just a population decrease; it means losing our greatest growth engine.

Why do you think the government has failed to achieve results despite pouring enormous funds into this issue?

It is due to policy fragmentation caused by the five-year single-term system. Every time the administration changes, key policies to overcome low birthrate?childcare, education, and housing?change, so no effective results have been achieved. It is chaotic and disorganized. Because of this, even with large spending, the public does not trust the government's firm commitment.

The government and political circles must regard the low birthrate issue as a serious national crisis and manage it as a long-term agenda. Also, it is necessary to specify goals and obligations for responding to low birthrate in the Constitution and to secure consistent policy measures and financial investment. At the very least, a constitutional amendment to overcome low birthrate should be made by the next presidential election.

What exactly do you propose to specify in the Constitution?

We need to focus on innovation in three policies?childcare, education, and housing?over at least 15 to 20 years. This includes national funding for salaries of kindergarten and daycare teachers caring for preschool children, implementation of AI education to reduce private education costs, and supply of public long-term rental housing for married families. In fact, countries like Finland, Belgium, and Germany also specify in their constitutions social security for families and the rights of parents as caregivers to receive protection and support from the state or community. The important thing is to give the public confidence that such extraordinary policies will continue consistently.

For example, the Constitution could include provisions such as "Salaries of teachers in educational institutions shall be paid by the state and local education authorities" and "The central government and education superintendents shall implement AI public education and education policies applying AI techniques."

What about housing?

No country in the world simply gives away homes for sale. But because of the five-year single-term system, impossible policies are promoted as if they are feasible... The government can build long-term public rental housing. LH or similar organizations can build directly, or there is the purchase rental method, where LH purchases homes built by private developers and rents them out.

Those who want to marry and have children, those who are married and have children, or those who are married should have the right to move into 20-pyeong, 30-pyeong, or 40-pyeong homes as they wish. The precondition is that they can pay rent below 20% of their monthly income. There should be a constitutional provision stating that "the government shall supply public long-term rental housing to married families."

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo argued that the ruling and opposition parties should join forces to amend the constitution to solve the low birthrate problem. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Recently, the role of companies in addressing the low birthrate issue has been highlighted. What is your view?

It is very important. To solve the low birthrate problem, work-family balance is essential, and the most important factor for this is the role of companies. We should refer to the example of Itochu Corporation in Japan. This company actively improved working conditions by implementing a morning-type flexible work system, allowing all employees to work from home twice a week, banning work after 8 p.m., and installing on-site daycare centers. As a result, their total fertility rate rose from 0.6 in 2012 to 1.97 in 2021. Labor productivity increased 5.2 times from 2010 to 2021, and in 2023, it was selected as the number one company where university students most want to work.

Companies should establish active and flexible leave systems so that parents can raise children while working, expand flexible work and telecommuting systems to allow working hours to be chosen according to circumstances, and improve working environments. Also, various support measures such as tax benefits should be prepared to encourage companies' voluntary birth support. It is very encouraging that the government and political circles are actively discussing this. The National Assembly will also actively support necessary legislation and budgets to create marriage, childbirth, and child-rearing friendly workplace cultures.

is also running a year-round campaign titled ‘K Population Strategy - Gender Equality is the Answer’ to solve the low birthrate issue.

I appreciate actively engaging in the campaign to overcome the low birthrate crisis. Watching my daughter struggle as a working mom, I often felt sorry and upset. Since women still bear more responsibility for childbirth and child-rearing, the burden of marriage and childbirth is inevitably heavy. Therefore, the situation where women's social advancement and marriage/childbirth are a trade-off must be improved.

You have expressed active positions on allowing dual citizenship for overseas Koreans and establishing an immigration agency. These do not seem like short-term tasks.

Currently, there are 7.08 million overseas Koreans worldwide. If the criteria for allowing dual citizenship for them are relaxed, it could enhance economic innovation and new growth engines. Especially, the principle of allowing dual citizenship only for elderly returnees aged 65 or older is maintained only by South Korea among G10 countries. To respond to a shrinking society, we must expand the scope of dual citizenship allowance like other major advanced countries.

Also, to support manpower inflow policies, there should be a control tower that can comprehensively manage immigration policies and foreign workforce policies. If the Ministry of Justice handles immigration policy, it is difficult to pursue active talent attraction policies.

You also directly proposed a bill. Last November, you led the proposal of the ‘Special Act on the Creation and Promotion of Advanced Research Industrial Complexes,’ advocating for creating ‘Korea’s Silicon Valley.’

A ‘new growth strategy’ is needed. It is reasonable to concentrate R&D in the southern Gyeonggi region, where advanced science and technology companies such as semiconductors and IT are already established. Advanced countries create large-scale research clusters in metropolitan areas to attract world-class talent and companies. Examples include Tokyo’s ‘National Strategic Special Zone,’ London’s ‘Tech City,’ and Paris’s ‘Le Grand Paris.’

I am very pleased and positive that the government is seriously considering the need to create a semiconductor mega-cluster. There is no time to hesitate. The National Assembly’s review will begin soon, and I hope the government and both ruling and opposition parties will engage in constructive discussions at the national strategic level.

It is not uncommon for the National Assembly to violate laws, such as delaying the redistricting that is supposed to be decided one year before elections. Why does this continue?

Both ruling and opposition parties insist only on systems that favor their own victory, causing election system negotiations to be delayed every election. The election law must be revised. The redistricting deadline should be changed from the current ‘one year before election day’ to ‘six months before,’ and the National Assembly should not be allowed to request re-redistricting of the redistricting plan from the Delimitation Commission.

The diagnosis of Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo is that the ruling and opposition parties have become entrenched in factional and fandom politics, resulting in the disappearance of dialogue and compromise. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Budget delays are also repeated almost every year?

Our National Assembly only conducts ‘political review.’ Currently, the government submits the budget proposal on September 1, and after the September government questioning and October audit, the entire budget must be reviewed in November. Due to time constraints, lawmakers choose ‘political review’ instead of individually reviewing over 9,000 projects.

If the National Assembly could provide opinions from the budget formulation stage, political justification battles would decrease, and late reviews could be prevented. I have proposed institutional improvements so that before ministries submit project budgets to the Ministry of Economy and Finance by May 31, they report budget requests to each standing committee and receive the National Assembly’s opinions. The National Assembly gives opinions to the government at each formulation stage, and the government, which has budget formulation authority, refers to these when preparing the budget.

The 21st National Assembly is nearing its end. What regrets do you have?

Due to ‘camp politics’ and ‘fandom politics,’ the essence of politics?dialogue and compromise?has disappeared, and the National Assembly has become a propaganda ground for rallying support, intensifying political strife. The ruling and opposition parties should consider each other as partners in state governance, but the conflict and confrontation have become so severe that they see each other as enemies, hate, and exclude one another. Our current politics only insists on one’s own claims and refuses to engage in dialogue and compromise.

The general election is approaching. Please say a word to the public from the perspective of “Please elect these kinds of lawmakers to the 22nd National Assembly.”

Elections are not only a place to judge and express support for politicians but also a process of shaping the future. I believe the public will vote wisely so that more politicians who can solve livelihood issues through dialogue and compromise politics and lead bold changes and innovations in our society enter the National Assembly. As Speaker, I will do my best during the remaining term to create the spring of the National Assembly and the spring of the Republic of Korea.