By Lee Kyung-min
A law, which defines a family as a union formed through marriage, blood or adoption, should be revised to break social prejudice against babies born outside the conventional makeup of a family, a professor said at a recent forum.
“Korea's dismally low birthrate is closely linked to a culture that lacks tolerance about accepting differences in who should be recognized as family,” said Kim Soon-nam, a professor at Sungkonghoe University, at a forum on ways to fight discrimination of babies born outside of marriage. Jointly organized by the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, Democratic Party of Korea Policy Committee and the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, the forum was held at the National Assembly on July 9.
Public discourse should continue to challenge a common perception that a family having a mother and a father is the only normal and acceptable form, to the exclusion of children raised by single parents or born out of wedlock. “A family should be a union with more emphasis on living together, rather than the traditional notion of marriage which expects heterosexual couples to have children. Such a widely shared common perception about marriage requires change toward open-mindedness in Korea.”
Korean Women's Development Institute researcher Song Hyo-jin said Korea should consider implementing “anonymous birth,” whereby a mother gives birth to a child without disclosing her identity. Many countries including France and Germany have legalized the practice to prevent frequent killings of newborns, particularly outside of marriage.
“The practice is disputed over the conflict between the mother's right to self-determination and the child's right to know about their biological ancestry. But it is highly effective in preventing the killing or abandonment of newborns,” she said.
The suggestion could be a relevant option in Korea where news reports on killing or abandoning newborns are not uncommon. Abortion is illegal in Korea except in cases of rape, incest or when a severe hereditary defect is found in the fetus or when the woman's health could be in danger. Women who have abortions are subject to a prison term of up to one year or a fine of up to 2 million won ($1,800). Doctors who perform abortions in theory could face up to two years in prison, but they usually get a 1 million won to 2 million won fine or a suspended prison sentence. Data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare for 2010 estimated about 168,000 abortions are carried out a year, but doctors say the number is at least 500,000 and up to 800,000.
The forum was organized amid the government's continued efforts to fight the country's dismally low birthrate. Statistics Korea showed the number of newborns was 357,700 last year, an 11.9 percent drop from a year earlier. The downward trend over the past two decades is expected to continue with the country's birthrate dropping below one per couple.
Korea's birthrate has remained the lowest among 35 OECD member countries over the past decade. According to a U.S. CIA report last December, Korea ranked 219th in birthrate out of 224 countries it surveyed.
OECD data on the number of births outside of marriage showed only 1.9 percent of babies were born outside of marriage in Korea in 2014, only a 0.7 percent increase from 1995. The figure increased to 2.3 percent from 1.2 in Japan, while the OECD average increased to 40.5 percent from 24.2 percent over the same period. France had over half, or 56.7 percent, of out-of-wedlock births in 2014, an increase from 41.7 percent in 1995. Sweden and Norway had the highest rates at 54.6 and 55.2 percent in 2014.