Yoon: "Population Strategy Planning Department Must Be Launched Quickly... Requests Cooperation from National Assembly"

"Youth Must Be Able to Dream of Childbirth and Marriage"
"Regional Balanced Development Is the Fundamental Solution to Population Issues"
"AI Textbooks, Expansion of Major Elective System Promoted"

President Yoon Suk-yeol is entering the 'National Briefing and Press Conference' held at the Yongsan Presidential Office building in Seoul on the morning of the 29th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon Suk-yeol on the 29th stated, "The strategy to address the population crisis is a multifaceted task linked to education, healthcare, employment, housing, and welfare," and requested cooperation from the National Assembly, saying, "a control tower, the 'Population Strategy Planning Department,' must be launched promptly to comprehensively coordinate these efforts."

During a live-streamed government briefing held at the Yongsan Presidential Office that morning, President Yoon said, "Starting in September, we will launch the 'Population Strategy Planning Department Establishment Promotion Team' as an inter-ministerial joint effort to thoroughly prepare all related matters such as organization, personnel, and budget," and added, "we ask for the National Assembly's cooperation to ensure the related legislation is passed swiftly."

President Yoon emphasized, "Our youth today say they have no room to think about marriage and childbirth," and stated, "we will firmly establish the 'work-family balance' that young people currently desire, and alleviate the burdens of child-rearing and housing to restore the freedom for youth to dream of childbirth and marriage."

To this end, he explained that the newly established Low Birthrate Office within the Presidential Office, created on the 25th of last month, will reexamine previously ineffective measures from the ground up and redesign projects considering beneficiaries' choices, policy perception, and sustainability.

In particular, President Yoon said, "Resolving the concentration in the metropolitan area through balanced regional development is the fundamental solution to the population problem," and added, "the key requirement for balanced regional development is ultimately to attract people and businesses to the regions, and the key to that is livability." According to President Yoon, the most important aspects of livability are education and healthcare.

Regarding education reform, he stated that efforts will focus on expanding diversity and guaranteeing choice, providing fair education that serves as a ladder of opportunity, and fostering creative talents by alleviating excessive competitive pressure.

On the morning of the 29th, reporters are watching President Yoon Suk-yeol's 'National Briefing' being broadcast live in the briefing room of the Presidential Office building in Yongsan, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

President Yoon said, "We will promptly establish 'public care,' where the state takes responsibility for education and childcare," and added, "We will carefully and swiftly promote the integration of childcare and early childhood education to provide high-quality education and care services fairly, and expand the Neulbom School to cover all elementary school grades by 2026 so that anyone who wishes can participate."

Additionally, he emphasized plans to introduce artificial intelligence (AI) textbooks to support personalized and self-directed learning, foster glocal universities that will drive local educational innovation, and focus on expanding the major autonomy system that breaks down barriers between departments and majors.

Regarding labor reform, President Yoon said, "Unreasonable practices and outdated, uniform systems cannot enhance economic dynamism nor adequately protect workers," placing emphasis on labor market flexibility and protection for vulnerable workers. He stated, "We will expand workers' choices to allow flexible work in various forms and improve the rigid wage system so that skilled middle-aged and older workers can continue working," and stressed, "We will enact the 'Labor Vulnerable Protection Act' so that the government can directly protect unorganized workers."