Value context and insight. lkm@koreatimes.co.kr
BOK head calls for painstaking reform to bolster low birthrates
Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong delivers congratulatory remarks at Yonsei University, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
By Lee Kyung-min
Korea’s low birthrates will not see a major breakthrough unless long-term measures for a fundamental solution are introduced in spite of short-term challenges, the country’s top monetary policymaker said Friday.
The country’s total fertility rate of 0.75 last year is a result of a combination of factors, including high population concentration in the Seoul metropolitan and surrounding Gyeonggi areas and fierce competition in education, as well as uncertainties in job prospects, housing and childrearing among the young generation, Bank of Korea Gov. Rhee Chang-yong said.
Some of the most important challenges for the country’s more inclusive and sustainable future include immigration and foreign labor policies, coupled with the socio-economic integration of North Korean defectors, he added.
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“We are facing a birthrate crisis,” he said while delivering congratulatory remarks at Yonsei University.
Korea’s population of 51 million will crash to around 30 million in 50 years if the current fertility rate continues. This in turn will lead to the country’s potential growth rate to dip sharply to nearly 0 percent by the late 2040s, down from the current 2 percent.
“Nurturing talents and leaders that can spearhead technological innovation and creative problem-solving will help Korea leap forward as a first mover,” he said.
The overarching goal will be best achieved, in his view, when university admissions prioritize applicants that are unafraid of new challenges and are of diverse backgrounds and experiences, instead of those obedient to parents and inclined to follow the rules and fulfill duties expected of them.
“The current admissions system provides limited opportunities for young people to take on challenges to foster creativity.”
His comments put renewed emphasis on the need to grant admissions based on where students live, not on their academic performance through standardized test scores.
Rhee has long advocated for what he has termed a “regional proportional system,” whereby university would voluntarily admit applicants based on the proportion of high school seniors in the regions the students come from. The universities would have discretion to set their own specific admission criteria.
“Over the past 20 years, a variety of balanced growth drivers have been introduced, but all of them failed without meaningful success in resolving the concentration in the metropolitan area,” he said.
The regional proportional system would significantly factor out the socioeconomic backgrounds of students' parents and access to private education, strengthening social mobility.
“This will help the chronic birthrates to rebound as a result of reduced population concentration in Seoul and the resulting downtrend in housing prices in the metropolitan area."