South Korea Sees Biggest Rise in Birth Rate in 34 Years
It appears the policies of prior President Yoon did have one positive impact which is improving the birthrate:
The number of babies born in South Korea rose at the fastest pace in 34 years in April from a year earlier, data showed Wednesday, driven by a rise in marriages and demographic changes.
A total of 20,717 babies were born in April, up 8.7 percent from 19,059 babies born a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.
It marked the steepest on-year increase in monthly births since April 1991, when the figure also rose by 8.7 percent.
It was also the first time in three years that the number of monthly births surpassed the 20,000 mark after hitting 21,164 in April 2022.
The country’s total fertility rate, the average number of children a woman is expected to have in her lifetime, also rose by 0.06 from a year earlier to 0.79 in April.
“The rise in births appears to be influenced by increased marriages since last year, growth in the population of women in their early 30s, and various birth promotion policies by the central and local governments,” an official at Statistics Korea said.
You can read more at the link, but we will see if President Lee can continue this momentum to improve the birth rate with his policies.
Don’t worry, the DPK will change that.
Exactly.. the rise is thanks to Yoon.. think about the timing 🙂
It appears the policies of prior President Yoon did have one positive impact which is improving the birthrate:
Ah yes, @GIKorea spreads more fake news and misinformation in order to glorify the disgraced Yoon.
From the Chosun;
https://www.chosun.com/english/national-en/2024/06/20/YOAKDV6D35EBDPFS2UNTVKQR7E/
President Yoon announced that the newly established, tentatively named “The Ministry of Population Strategy Planning” would take over from the previously promised “Low Birth Rate Response Planning Ministry” during his two-year public report last month.
Regarding work-life balance, President Yoon announced plans to increase the current 6.8% usage rate of paternity leave to 50% during his term and to raise the childcare leave pay to 2.5 million won ($1,807.96) per month for the first three months.
Regarding work-life balance, President Yoon announced plans to increase the current 6.8% usage rate of paternity leave to 50% during his term and to raise the childcare leave pay to 2.5 million won ($1,807.96) per month for the first three months.
You see the above was announced in June 2024.
He announced “plans” but never implemented them because six months later he declared martial law and carried out an insurrection that led to the end of his presidency.
The above mentioned Ministry that Yoon announced wasn’t even established.
So @GIKorea claims of “President Yoon did have one positive impact which is improving the birthrate” is false and fake news.
@Korean Man:
Ah, the irony of accusing others of “fake news” while offering a critique built entirely on selective context and historical distortion.
Let’s begin with the obvious: the claim wasn’t that Yoon personally delivered a complete demographic reversal. The claim — and a fair one — is that his policies had one positive impact: a constructive shift in the birthrate trajectory. And indeed, even announced policies and early administrative momentum can influence national behavior, expectations, and market reactions — particularly in a hyper-responsive country like South Korea, where government signaling often translates rapidly into social and corporate behavior.
You mock the June 2024 announcement as if policy only matters once a ribbon is cut. That’s not how policymaking or economic psychology works. Yoon’s administration set in motion a paradigm shift: dramatically expanded paternity leave goals, increased childcare subsidies, and — most importantly — elevated population planning to a national strategic level. Whether or not the new ministry was formally launched, the announcement itself triggered a wave of public discourse, budgetary preparations, and employer-side anticipation. Social policy isn’t binary — it’s cumulative.
Second, you conveniently ignore that demographic response is not always linear or delayed. Expectations of improved support — like higher parental leave pay or better childcare infrastructure — can accelerate decisions that were already borderline. In other words, people don’t wait for implementation; they act when they believe change is credible. Multiple studies in behavioral economics confirm that policy signaling affects real-world decisions. In fact, the very announcement of increased paternity support likely contributed to the modest uptick in male leave applications reported in late 2024 — yes, under Yoon.
And third, invoking Yoon’s political downfall to negate every initiative of his administration is a textbook ad hominem fallacy. His authoritarian overreach and exit from power deserve criticism — but they do not magically erase the substance or early effects of his family policy agenda. Are we now arguing that all infrastructure projects or educational initiatives under his term are retroactively invalidated? Of course not.
If you’re looking for falsehood, look in the mirror. Because the claim wasn’t that Yoon fixed the birthrate — it’s that he had one positive impact: pushing pronatalist policy to the center of the national agenda in a way no previous administration dared. That alone is a structural gain — one which will continue to echo well beyond his political grave.
Joshua Lee seems to be illiterate and can’t read. It clearly says “Korean Person”.
Yoon is responsible for the birth increase? LOL. How? He’s the same guy who wanted to raise the maximum workplace hours to 68 hours per week, from 52 hours per week. What work-life balance? Under Yoon’s plan, who would have any time for procreation? Truly clueless.
@Korean Man – you guys are practically the same person.. no diff