"Childbirth is National Power"... "Oh Se-hoon Must Do More Than Just 'Greenbelt Release'"

[Park Jong-il Autonomous News] "Central and Local Governments, Businesses, and All Economic Actors Must Act to Raise Birth Rates, Public Opinion Spreads"

"Childbirth is national power."

The most urgent issue in South Korea, where the birth rate is less than 1%, is to raise the birth rate.

It is very regrettable that despite the government pouring more than 360 trillion won in budget over decades, the country has not been able to shake off the stigma of having the lowest birth rate among OECD countries.

Amid this, on the 8th, the government took out the card of lifting the Greenbelt to curb the rapid rise in real estate prices in Seoul.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon announced the Seoul Metropolitan Government's plan to expand housing supply on the 9th at Seoul City Hall, following the government's housing supply expansion measures announced on the 8th. The plan includes lifting some restrictions on greenbelt areas and supplying housing for future generations such as newlyweds. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

Mayor Oh Se-hoon immediately responded on the 9th by announcing plans to release Greenbelt areas with low preservation value in Seoul to build housing for young newlyweds.

On the morning of the 9th, Mayor Oh held a press briefing at Seoul City Hall and explained, "Given the current era's urgent issues of population decline due to low birth rates and the housing problems faced by the younger generation, partially lifting the Greenbelt is an unavoidable choice."

Until now, the lifting of the Greenbelt had been restrained to preserve the natural environment, but as housing prices surged sharply and supply shortages increased the need for land development within Seoul, the stance changed. He said, "I understand there are many voices concerned about the destruction or shortage of green spaces, and I myself hesitated a lot." He added, "We plan to proceed by utilizing areas that are damaged and unmanaged or have relatively low preservation value, taking into account citizens' concerns."

Mayor Oh said, "We decided that if it is limited to areas already damaged and functionally lost, and used for housing supply for future generations, it could be 'understood.' We received the proposal from the government at a time when it is difficult to secure more than 4,000 housing units annually for newlyweds even by squeezing a dry towel, and missing this decisive timing would render all efforts ineffective," explaining the background of his participation.

The city plans to supply most of the housing for newlyweds in the Greenbelt release areas, such as long-term rental housing II, which is a 20-year lease housing for newlywed heads of households.

Although he has not officially declared his candidacy for the presidency, this appears to be a timely response befitting a leading candidate for the next presidential election.

Mayor Oh has been presenting various measures to encourage childbirth. He has successively announced the so-called "Oh Se-hoon-style low birth rate measures," the "Seoul Project to Support the Birth of a Child-Friendly City."

Seoul City views the next five years as the last timing to respond to the low birth rate and continues to announce policies that will serve as a catalyst as a "first mover."

These include carefully prepared and announced step-by-step support measures such as ▲ love and marriage "birth of couples," ▲ birth of life including pregnancy and childbirth, and ▲ childcare and care "family support."

Seoul City has announced ▲ support for egg freezing procedures for future childbirth ▲ expanded support for infertility treatment costs ▲ weddings utilizing major facilities such as tailored suits ▲ interest support for newlywed rental deposits to reduce housing burdens ▲ transportation cost support for pregnant women.

Additionally, ▲ postpartum care cost support to encourage recovery of mothers after childbirth ▲ Seoul-style childcare cost support providing strong support to families raising children together ▲ Seoul-style emergency and gap childcare support reflecting caregiver demand ▲ introduction of child-friendly housing with nationwide first childcare infrastructure ▲ strengthened child-friendly housing support policies have also been introduced.

Along with these, ▲ creation of Seoul-style kids cafes ▲ operation of Seoul Mom and Dad taxis to assist families with infant care outings ▲ establishment of outing infrastructure considerate of caregivers and children ▲ Seoul-style housekeeping service support to reduce caregivers' household burdens ▲ Seoul Women Up Project supporting women with career experience to re-enter society ▲ support for maternity leave for self-employed and freelancers ▲ introduction of work-life balance point system for small and medium enterprises to enable working while raising children, among various other measures have been implemented.

This series of policy announcements was prepared under the leadership of Kim Seon-soon, Director of the Women's and Family Office of Seoul City, and received praise from Mayor Oh.

Seoul City has decided to support these policy implementations with a budget of 1.8 trillion won this year. It is expected to be evaluated as an Oh Se-hoon-style childbirth encouragement policy that is executed rather than just talked about.

In this way, Mayor Oh appears to be presenting various measures with a desperate conviction that there is no future without an increase in the birth rate. The Greenbelt lifting measure he personally briefed on the 9th can be interpreted in this context.

Until now, the Greenbelt has been a sanctuary in our society. Starting with the Lee Myung-bak administration lifting the Greenbelt in Naegok-dong, Seocho-gu to build Happy Housing, this Seoul City Greenbelt lifting seems to be an inevitable choice.

The attempt to release the Greenbelt, which should be preserved for future generations, reflects a corresponding urgency. A senior Seoul City official supported the city's desperate measures, saying, "If the birth rate falls and the population gradually decreases, what meaning would the mountains and fields have?"

To encourage childbirth, not only the central government but also local governments, companies, and all economic actors must step forward. Public opinion is growing to raise the birth rate even beyond lifting the Greenbelt.