President Yoon Suk-yeol Announces Establishment of 'Low Birthrate Response Planning Department'
"A Strong Control Tower Is Needed to Solve Population Issues"
President Yoon Suk-yeol has decided to establish the ‘Low Birthrate Response Planning Department’ as an organization led by the Deputy Prime Minister. This move aims to create an effective government body to serve as the real control tower for population policy, as the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy (PCASP), which has played the role of the control tower for population policy within the government, has been unable to fulfill this function. The goal is to create a practical breakthrough for the population crisis through a government organization with strong execution capabilities.
On the 9th, President Yoon stated at a press conference, “We will establish the Low Birthrate Response Planning Department, a planning ministry to prepare for low birthrates and aging,” adding, “The minister of the Low Birthrate Response Planning Department will serve as the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs, formulating policies that encompass education, labor, and welfare, elevating the issue beyond simple welfare policy to a national agenda.” He also requested active cooperation from the National Assembly to amend the Government Organization Act to establish the Low Birthrate Response Planning Department.
President Yoon emphasized, “The low birthrate issue has been divided among various ministries, and the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, which is advisory in nature, has no authority to decide or enforce policies,” adding, “We plan to establish the Low Birthrate Response Planning Department, similar to the Economic Planning Board that aggressively promoted economic growth in the past, to serve as a very proactive and powerful control tower.”
President Yoon stressed that the current population crisis is comparable to a ‘national emergency.’ He said, “This is not a problem that can be addressed over time; it can be considered a national emergency,” and added, “In the 1960s, President Park Chung-hee initiated the Five-Year Economic Development Plan to escape poverty, and the Economic Planning Board acted as the control tower for related ministries, leading high growth in heavy and advanced industries.” He emphasized that a strong control tower like this is necessary to solve the current problem.
The reason President Yoon decided to establish a ministry led by the Deputy Prime Minister for Social Affairs is based on the awareness that a new organization capable of practically planning and implementing policies is needed.
Despite being a presidential advisory body, the PCASP has consistently been criticized for failing to serve as the control tower for low birthrate and aging policies. According to Article 23 of the Framework Act on Low Birthrate and Aging Society, the PCASP is defined as a committee that deliberates on important policy matters. It functions as an advisory committee that provides expert opinions and assists decision-making by responding to administrative agencies. Since it is not an independent central administrative agency, it has relied on personnel dispatched from various ministries, leading to concerns about continuity. Additionally, it lacked its own budget authority, making it difficult to independently plan and implement population policies.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which was the main ministry responsible for population policy related to low birthrates, was also unable to create effective population policies. This was because the ministry oversees healthcare and welfare as a whole, forcing population policy to be a lower priority. The current government has also struggled to respond to medical reforms such as national pension reform and increasing medical school quotas. Consequently, there were opinions within government ministries that an organization capable of overseeing the scattered low birthrate agenda was necessary.
Last year, the total fertility rate hit a record low, highlighting the severity of the low birthrate problem. According to Statistics Korea, the number of births last year was 230,000, shrinking by 19,200 (7.7%) compared to the previous year. The annual number of births has fallen below 400,000 since 2017 (357,800), dropped below 300,000 in 2020 (282,300), and has continued to hit record lows every year. The total fertility rate, which represents the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, also plummeted to 0.72 last year.
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