Professor Jaemin Lee (Opinion, January 30) is correct that South Korea faces a demographic crisis, one that has been brewing for the past two decades. However, the causes of this declining birth rate — the lowest not only in the OECD but in the world — go far deeper.
It is true that housing policies, long an unfixable feature of South Korea due to its primary role in national savings and peculiarities in its financial structure, are a factor. And high educational expenses clearly also play a role, but the major issue concerns the role of women in South Korea. Politicians steer away from this deeply cultural phenomenon.
The marriage rate has been declining in South Korea and only 28 per cent of women in a recent poll had a positive view on marriage. Why is this? The basic fact is that although women’s labour force participation rates have increased slightly (but are still below OECD averages and below that of Japan), women leaving the labour force have a difficult time to work part-time or to enter the labour market once married or embracing motherhood. Plus, the gender wage gap as reported by the OECD is the highest for South Korea. Largely to blame is corporate Korea, where companies have made no tangible efforts to remedy labour market discrimination. And this is not surprising given the absence of women from almost all major chief executive positions.
Given the lag in demographics, this problem is no longer fixable before South Korea’s population decline takes on serious consequences.
Robotics and artificial intelligence can help, but immigration reform would help more and be a quicker solution. This again runs into cultural constraints. Studies have shown that population decline along with limits on technology and the efficiency of capital will hurt South Korea’s future economic growth.
This is a variable that politicians may worry about, even if greater gender equality is not one.
Danny Leipziger
Professor of International Business,
George Washington University, Washington, DC, US
