North Korea's fertility rate reaches all-time low of 1.38, study suggests
North Korea’s fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― may have already fallen below 1.5, a recent study suggests.

Korea Times Politics & City Reporter
Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
North Korea’s fertility rate ― the average number of children a woman bears in her lifetime ― may have already fallen below 1.5, a recent study suggests.
Non-Koreans with E-9 visas will now be allowed to work at hotels in Seoul and other popular destinations for tourists.
Faced with strong opposition from conservatives, the South Korean government decided to halt plans to lift a ban on public access to North Korean media content, sources said, Thursday.
The rate of North Korean defectors satisfied with their lives in South Korea hit a record high of 79.3 percent this year amid an overall improvement in their economic conditions.
South Korea is pressing ahead with the establishment of a state-run museum as part of its efforts to raise awareness on North Korea’s human rights abuses despite budget shortages caused by the main opposition party.
In yet another sign of Korea’s falling birthrate, sales of pet strollers have exceeded those of baby strollers this year for the first time, according to Gmarket, an e-commerce platform operator.
North Korea is set to hold a major party meeting this week, one year after the previous one in which Kim Jong-un, its leader, called for an “exponential increase” in the size of its nuclear arsenal against its adversaries.
AirAsia passengers bound for Malaysia were stuck at Incheon International Airport for more than 27 hours due to technical malfunctions, government officials said on Sunday.
North Korea appears to have started operating a new light-water reactor at its main nuclear facility in Yongbyon in a move obviously aimed at expanding its capacity to produce fuel for nuclear bombs.
Speaking to journalists soon after being nominated as the next foreign minister, Wednesday, Cho Tae-yul made clear what his priority would be: improving South Korea-China relations, which he said "are as important as" the Korea-U.S. alliance.