Jeonnam Governor Kim Youngrok Joins Relay Campaign to Raise Awareness of Population Issues

Promoting a Paradigm Shift in Addressing Low Birth Rate Issues and Other Challenges

Jeollanam-do Governor Youngrok Kim is participating in the "Population Issue Awareness Improvement Relay Campaign" at the provincial office reception room on the 17th. Photo by Jeonnam Province

Kim Yungrok, Governor of Jeollanam-do, participated in the "Population Issue Awareness Improvement Relay Campaign" at the provincial government office on the 17th to raise awareness about issues arising from demographic changes such as low birth rates and aging, and to improve social perception.

This campaign, organized by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Human Resources Development Institute for Health and Welfare, began last October with the participation of Lee Kiil, the First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, and has since seen involvement from various organizations and groups. Governor Kim joined the campaign after receiving the baton from Lee Cheolwoo, Governor of Gyeongsangbuk-do.

Governor Kim stated, "The population issue is one of the most important challenges our society must address," and added, "Innovative and bold policies such as the Jeollanam-do and city-county basic childbirth allowance and the Jeonnam-type Manwon Housing are changing the paradigm of Korea's population policy."

Meanwhile, Jeollanam-do is focusing its efforts on overcoming low birth rates and solving population issues by actively promoting the "Population Transformation Jeonnam" project, which addresses the entire life cycle from childbirth to childcare, education, and employment, in order to boost birth rates and attract new populations such as foreigners.

These efforts have recently been reflected in an increase in the number of newborns.

According to announcements from Statistics Korea and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the number of newborns in Jeollanam-do until the end of last year was 8,342, an increase of 514 (6.6%) compared to the previous year. This marks a nine-month consecutive increase, and as of the end of 2024, it is the first rebound in the number of newborns in Jeollanam-do in nine years since 2015.

Governor Kim Yungrok nominated Park Hyungjoon, Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City, and Kim Daejung, Superintendent of Jeollanam-do Office of Education, as the next participants in the campaign, requesting their participation to spread the movement nationwide to overcome the population crisis.