South Korea's unstoppable declining birthrate, a columnist for a leading US newspaper warns, comparing it to the worst infectious disease epidemic in history

The Korea Statistical Office announced its ``Population Trends'' on the 29th of last month. According to the report, the total fertility rate (the estimated number of children a woman will give birth to in her lifetime) for the July-September period was 0.70, the lowest level on record.
Ta. On the 2nd of this month (local time), the New York Times published a column by columnist Ross Douthat entitled ``Will South Korea disappear?'' in response to South Korea's seriously declining birthrate. Mr. Ross said,
If South Korea maintains its current birth rate, it will experience an even greater decline in population than in medieval Europe, which was hit by the plague.
South Korea's birth rate fell below 2 for the first time in 1984, at 1.74. In the 2000s, it fluctuated between 1.1 and 1.3, and in 2018 it was 0.98, which is below 1.
I got into it. South Korea is the only member country of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) to have a birthrate below 1. There has been no slowdown since 2018, and it is 0.84 in 2020 and 0.84 in 2021.
0.81, and hit a new all-time low last year at 0.78. This is less than half the average for OECD countries (1.59 people). By region, the capital Seoul has a rate of 0.59, and the second largest city
It was particularly low in urban areas, at 0.72 in Busan. The Korea Statistical Office also releases the total fertility rate on a quarterly basis. Data for the July-September period of this year was released on the 29th of last month. The synchronization is
It was 0.70, which was the lowest ever on a quarterly basis since statistics began in 2009, matching the October-December 2022 period and the April-June period of this year. In particular, the number of children born in September is approximately 18,700.
The number of people decreased by 14.6% compared to the same month last year. Yonhap News reported, ``The number of births tends to decrease toward the end of the year, and the total fertility rate for the October-December period may fall below 0.7.''
There is. Yonhap also reported that due to the declining birthrate, the number of first-grade elementary school students next year is expected to fall below 400,000 for the first time. There are 401,752 first-year students born in 2016 who will enroll this spring.
The number of people remained in the 400,000 range. In 2020, the number of births was 272,337, which was less than 300,000, and Yonhap said, ``In 2027, when those born in 2020 will enter elementary school, there will be fewer new students enrolled compared to now.
This will result in a reduction of more than 100,000 people." The main reason why the birthrate has progressed so far is said to be that fewer people are getting married. In South Korea, where there is a super-educated society and it is difficult to find employment, there is fierce competition.
In the end, disparity widens, and there are many cases in which people are unable to get married or have children due to financial concerns. In South Korea in the mid-2000s, the term ``three-bang'' was coined, which refers to giving up on love, marriage, and childbirth. South Korea
There is still a belief that raising children is the responsibility of mothers, and some women hesitate to get married because they are concerned that if they get married, they will have to take on the burden of raising children and doing housework all at once.
There are some too. It is also true that lifestyles are diversifying and some women choose not to get married, and we are living in an era where this should be respected as a value.
It was in the early 2000s that the declining birthrate emerged as a major social problem in South Korea. The Roh Moo-hyun government was established in 2003.
Since then, the government has begun to seriously tackle measures to combat the declining birthrate. The current government of President Yoon Seo-gyeol is also working to counter the declining birthrate by building low-rent public housing and accepting immigrants.
However, the declining birthrate is showing no signs of slowing down. With the total fertility rate for the July-September period of this year at 0.7, New York Times columnist Ross Dothat
"We will experience a significant population decline," he warned, likening the issue to the plague that spread in Europe during the Middle Ages and is said to be the worst infectious disease in world history. During the plague epidemic, in some parts of Europe, 1
It is said that 5 to 6 of the 0 people died. Some predict that if South Korea's birth rate does not continue to improve, there is a high possibility that its economic growth rate will become negative from 2050. South Korea
In order to avoid such a scenario, the Bank of Korea, the central bank of Korea, said it must reduce the concentration of food in the metropolitan area and increase government budget support to quickly resolve the three major concerns regarding housing, employment, and childcare.
I suggested that. The Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo mentioned Ross' column in an editorial on the 4th, complaining, ``Right now, South Korea is in a desperate crisis. There is no time to hesitate.''