Children s Park in Seoul on Oct. 31. As the number of children in South Korea has declined, it has become more of a playground for ordinary citizens. Photo by Economic Daily Seoul correspondent Yang Ming

South Korea's fertility rate has been declining in recent years, making it the only country in the world with a fertility rate below one. The low fertility rate combined with the accelerating aging of the society makes the Korean economy face an unprecedented crisis. How to maintain the social population vitality and healthy structure has become a difficult problem that the Korean government must solve.

South Korea's government recognized the country's low birth rate in the early 2000s. The government has invested 225 trillion won in three phases of the basic plan to address low birth rate and aging since 2006. Unfortunately, the plan did not achieve the desired results and was criticized for "lack of pertinence and effectiveness".

The number of babies born in South Korea this year is expected to be 240,000 to 250,000, down from 272,400 last year, according to a recent report by Seoul National University's demography research institute. As recently as 2012, the number of births peaked at 485,000. In just nine years, the absolute value of births has halved.

Korea s fertility rate was 0.84 last year, the lowest ever, but it is expected to be broken again this year. The fertility rate is expected to be just 0.78 to 0.8 this year, and the downward trend will continue until at least 2024.

Korea s fertility rate is a little more than a third of the 2.1 that is required to maintain the current population, far behind the oecd average of 1.63.

The Squid Game, a South Korean TV series that has recently become a worldwide hit, is a true microcosm of South Korean society and, to some extent, reflects the underlying cause of the country's declining birth rate -- enormous economic pressure. Nearly 60 percent of South Korean respondents believe the high cost of parenting and education has dampened their desire to have children, according to a survey.

At the same time, due to skyrocketing real estate prices, job shortages and economic worries, young Koreans are postponing or even giving up marriage, which naturally leads to a decline in the birth rate. According to the census results of the 2020 Population and Housing Survey released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), the number of unmarried koreans over the age of 20 reached 11.267 million last year, an increase of 1.057 million from the previous year. Among them, unmarried people between 30 and 39 account for 42.5 percent of the total unmarried population.

In the past, the problem of low birth rate in South Korea was mainly concentrated in local cities, but in recent years, it has become more and more prominent in the metropolitan area. Take Hanam, Gwacheon and Euiwang in Gyeonggi Province as an example. They are close to gangnam, Seoul, and have convenient work and commuting facilities, as well as advanced education and shopping facilities. They are the most active areas of young population inflow in South Korea. Last year, however, the fertility rates in the three cities were 0.89, 0.99 and 0.89 respectively, none of which exceeded 1. Surprisingly, none of the three cities has a maternity hospital with a birthing room.

The steady decline in the number of newborns contrasts with the rapid growth of the elderly population. According to the Seoul National University Demography Research Center, the proportion of the population aged 65 or older in Korea will reach 15.7 percent in 2020 and exceed 20 percent in 2025, officially entering a super-aged society. South Korea is expected to become the world's oldest country after 2045, overtaking Japan. If current trends continue, the number of koreans aged 65 or older will exceed 45 percent of the total population by 2060.

People aged 25 to 59 have the most productive and consuming activities and are called the main employment population. By 2028, the number of employed koreans will account for less than 50 percent of the total population. In 2031, the number of employed koreans will decrease by 3.15 million from this year, which is almost the same as the population of Busan, the second largest city in Korea.

The continuing population decline is a potential tsunami for the Korean economy. Due to the excessive concentration of the Korean population in the metropolitan area, young people do not have a clear sense of the population decline. However, once the "tsunami" emerges, it will bring a strong impact on the Korean economy, and it is difficult to reverse for a long time.

The international community is also paying close attention to The demographic cliff in Korea. Fitch ratings, one of the world's three major credit rating agencies, cut the country's annual potential growth rate from 2.5 percent to 2.3 percent due to the country's aging population, another wake-up call for the Korean government.

Many experts predict that the next nine years will be the last "critical period" for Korean society to overcome the demographic crisis.

It was also reported that the Ministry of Public Administration and Security recently announced that 89 local administrative units, accounting for about 40% of the total number of local administrative units, were designated as "population reduction areas." The south Korean government fiscal future will take out 1 trillion won per year, with 2.56 trillion won the state Treasury and the auxiliary project gold package as capital support, support these areas to develop transportation, education, culture, tourism and sports, in areas such as infrastructure construction, agriculture and forestry production and reconstruction for old residences, new residential building to provide financial support, to increase local appeal to young people, Gradually raise the fertility rate.