By Na Jeong-ju
Staff Reporter
President Lee Myung-bak instructed his Cabinet, Thursday, to come up with measures to subsidize house prices for parents with three children or more as part of efforts to boost falling birthrates.
But it is unclear whether private builders are ready to provide discounts to homebuyers who meet the criterion.
``Falling birthrates have become a key, challenging issue,'' Lee said at the ninth meeting of the Emergency Economic Council at Cheong Wa Dae. ``This is a perfect time to provide homes to couples with many children and newly-weds at cheap prices.''
Lee instructed officials to give a preference to couples with three children or more when providing homes and leased apartments and lower house prices, presidential spokesman Lee Dong-kwan said.
President Lee told Strategy and Finance Minister Yoon Jeong-hyun and Land and Transport Minister Chung Jong-hwan to check Seoul and surrounding areas from a helicopter to find places for new homes.
``Instead of building new satellite cities, the government needs to redevelop urban districts,'' Lee said. ``By constructing homes for the couples with children, we can boost birthrates, revive the local economy and renovate urban areas.''
Government agencies will share the idea and reflect on it in the forming of housing policies, spokesman Lee said.
President Lee said the administration should pay more attention to the aging population and falling birthrates.
Lee expressed concern over a recent National Statistical Office (NSO) report that said the number of people aged over 65 stood at 5.02 million in 2008, up from 4.81 million a year ago, exceeding the five-million mark for the first time ever, Cheong Wa Dae officials said.
As more women choose to delay marriage and pursue a career, the number of babies born here has been on a downward curve over the past decade.
Lee instructed his Cabinet to attract investment from the private sector for the construction of homes for parents and young couples.
The measure will be helpful in increasing economic vitality in the long term and provide more jobs to the youth at a time when the economic recession is deepening, Cheong Wa Dae said.
jj@koreatimes.co.kr
