By Micah McCartney
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South Korea is creating a ministry to tackle the East Asian country's looming population crisis.
The new ministry was unveiled Monday by Interior and Safety Minister Lee Sang-min following high-level meetings between the administration and ruling party, local media reported.
The announcement follows televised remarks by President Yoon Suk Yeol in which he called for such a ministry to counter the country's flagging birth rate. Yoon has warned that the trend constitutes a "national emergency."
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The ministry will be tasked with demographics-related matters such as South Korea's aging society, immigration, the workforce and the birth rate.
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The nation's Health and Welfare Ministry will carry out certain policies centered on child and elderly care and fertility. Local and central government bodies will require its approval before they adjust birth rate-related policies or introduce new ones.
Meanwhile, the Labor Ministry and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family will be responsible for policies related to work-life balance, something many young South Koreans believe they lack, which makes the prospect of child-rearing more daunting.
"As a strong control tower that presides over strategy, planning and budget adjustments, the ministry will operate in a similar manner to an economic planning ministry," Lee said, according to the Hankyoreh newspaper.
Before the ministry is created, the Government Organization Act and the Framework Act on Low Birth Rate in an Aging Society must be amended. The Yoon administration said it will file the amendments to the country's legislature by the end of July, according to reports.
Newsweek reached out by email for comment to the South Korean Embassy in the U.S.
East Asia is the global region with the lowest fertility rate, or number of babies expected in a woman's lifetime. South Korea has the lowest in the world, with a fertility rate of just 0.72 births per woman last year, compared with Japan's 1.26 and China's 1.0.
The falling number of births, coupled with a rapidly graying workforce, has raised questions about the long-term vitality of these economic powerhouses.
Despite nearly $300 billion in public funding in recent years for initiatives ranging from child care to fertility treatments, South Korea saw its fertility rate drop for the fourth consecutive year in 2023—down from 0.78 in 2022 to 0.72.
In its latest effort to encourage child-rearing, Seoul said last month it was raising the maximum allowance for those on parental leave to 2.5 million won ($1,800) per month from 1.5 million won.
The high cost of living and shifting societal norms are often cited as factors that discourage raising families. The average price of a home in Seoul in 2022 was more than 15 times the average household income.
Meanwhile, "young Koreans balance lifestyle choices like hobbies, travel and self-care with the desire and affordability of having children," Katherine Moon, a Wellesley College political science professor and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, previously told Newsweek.
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