The number of babies born in Korea fell below the 20,000 level for the first time for any February this year, data showed Wednesday, amid deepening woes about the country's demographics amid rapid aging and the ultra-low birthrate.

A total of 19,362 babies were born in February 2024, sliding 3.3 percent from a year earlier, according to the data compiled by Statistics Korea.

It marked the lowest figure for any February since the statistics agency began compiling related data in 1981.

In terms of February readings, the number of newborns fell below 30,000 for the first time in 2018 and had stayed around the 20,000 level until last year.

The number of deaths advanced 9.6 percent on-year to 29,977 in February this year, the largest figure for any February.

The population, accordingly, declined by 10,614, the sharpest fall for any February ever. The number of deaths has outpaced that of newborns since November 2019.

SEOUL – A moratorium set by the Philippine government on sending the country’s workers to South Korea has put the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s plan to bring in foreign domestic workers on hold, while also leaving some local farms with a shortage of workers as they will have fewer seasonal workers from the Philippines than in previous years.

The Seoul city government said in 2023 that it would bring in around 100 Filipinas to work as domestic helpers during the second half of 2023 in a pilot programme to tackle the shortage of people willing to work as maids in South Korea. However, the plan has been delayed as permission has been withheld by the Philippine government.

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Manila cited the growing number of human rights violations that Filipinos have faced in South Korea as the reason it suspended the deployment of the workers.

According to local reports, the Philippines’ Department of Migrant Workers has been receiving a number of complaints from overseas Filipino workers in South Korea. The complaints range from unsafe labour conditions and underpayment of wages to overwork and even worker deaths.

The Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military named China as a hypothetical enemy for the first time in their joint command post exercise, government sources said Sunday, amid rising concerns over a potential invasion of Taiwan by Beijing in the future.

The computer simulation exercise, which began on Feb. 1 and is slated to be held through Thursday, envisions an emergency in Taiwan. A provisional name was previously used when referring to an enemy.

Japan's Defense Ministry is believed to have classified the scenario as a specially designated secret under the country's secrecy law

As South Korea faces a military manpower shortage due to its low birth rate issue, opinions have emerged suggesting the recruitment of women or the male individuals aged 55 to 75 to fill the gap. However, public opinion in Korea remains divided on these proposals, and debates surrounding military service are expected to continue.

Choi Young-jin, a professor of Political Science and International Relations at Chung-Ang University, criticized the policy of women’s military service in a column contributed to Hankyoreh on Jan. 31. He argued that it is not a solution for a country that needs to focus all its efforts on increasing the birth rate.

Previously, the New Reform Party, under the leadership of Lee Jun-seok, announced that they plan to implement a policy that would require women to serve in the military as early as 2030 if they wish to become police or fire service officers.

Choi argued that women’s military service is not the most efficient solution to address the manpower shortage. According to him, to secure 10,000-20,000 military resources, the government would have to allocate a budget ten times more than the current level. Choi also criticized that advocating for women’s military service under the pretext of gender equality is a narrow perception of the world.

Choi suggested that there is a simpler and more effective solution to the problem of manpower shortage, which is to conscript healthy senior citizens who are willing to volunteer for service. He pointed out that there are currently around 6.91 million men between the ages of 55 and 75 in S. Korea, and a significant number of them are prepared to join the army again for the country.

“If 1% of the 6.91 million volunteers, we could secure about 70,000 in reserve forces. We could even easily mobilize 200,000-300,000, if we pay them as much as the current soldiers,” said Choi.

SEOUL, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- The defense ministry said Tuesday it is not considering conscripting women for the country's mandatory military service after the issue received renewed attention in a campaign pledge ahead of the April general elections.

On Monday, the leader of the newly created Reformative Conservative Party, Lee Jun-seok, proposed having women serve in the military first if they want to apply for jobs as police officers or firefighter as a campaign pledge.

When asked about the possibility of female conscription, the ministry's spokesperson Jeon Ha-kyou denied considering it.

Shin (14), a middle school student in Daegu has been addicted to gaming for years. He stayed up all night in his room playing games. He was always late for school, and his friends teased him, calling a “game otaku(maniac)”. Shin blamed himself for being “someone unnecessary.” Late last year, he was diagnosed with severe depression and tried to be admitted to a psychiatric ward at a university hospital, but there were no vacancies, and he was only admitted this month.

“The 30 closed wards at Severance Hospital, which used to house adult schizophrenia patients, are now filled with teens and 20s,” Shin Yee-jin, a professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at Severance Hospital, said on Jan. 29. “Most of them have become so depressed that they have attempted self-harm and suicide.”

The number of teens and 20s suffering from depression, self-harm and other mental illnesses is on the rise. According to the National Health Insurance Corporation, there were 13,303 psychiatric hospitalizations for teens and 20s in 2017, or 14.6% of all patients. But last year, the number rose to 16,819 (22.2%), an increase of nearly 10 percentage points in five years.

SEOUL, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. F-16 fighter jet crashed in waters off South Korea's west coast on Wednesday and the pilot was rescued after ejecting from the aircraft, the U.S. Air Force said.

The jet assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing in Kunsan Air Base, about 180 kilometers south of Seoul, experienced an "in-flight emergency" over the Yellow Sea and crashed at approximately 8:41 a.m., 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs said in a release.

The pilot ejected safely from the aircraft and was recovered at around 9:30 a.m. through joint rescue efforts by South Korea and U.S. officials.

The U.S. military said the pilot is in stable condition and an investigation is currently under way to figure out the cause of the incident.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/11357893

> WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed concerns Monday over South Korea's proposed regulations aimed at preventing unfair market activities by major online platform businesses. > > Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber, issued a statement opposing Seoul's push for the rules designed to step up oversight over market-dominant players to ensure fair competition. > > Industry watchers forecast that major platform operators, including Naver, Kakao, Google and Apple could be subject to the rules should they be enacted.

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. Chamber of Commerce expressed concerns Monday over South Korea's proposed regulations aimed at preventing unfair market activities by major online platform businesses.

Charles Freeman, senior vice president for Asia at the U.S. Chamber, issued a statement opposing Seoul's push for the rules designed to step up oversight over market-dominant players to ensure fair competition.

Industry watchers forecast that major platform operators, including Naver, Kakao, Google and Apple could be subject to the rules should they be enacted.

Mark Manson, an American bestselling author and famous YouTuber, has made headlines by posting a video that he "traveled to the world's most depressing country" after visiting Korea. Manson, a best-selling author who has written famous self-development books such as "The Art of Turning Off Nervousness," is a YouTube creator with 1.44 million subscribers.

Manson recently released a 24-minute video on his YouTube channel under the theme of "Traveling to the World's Depressing Country." During his visit to Korea, Manson met with Americans, psychologists, and psychiatrists living in Korea to look into depression in Korean society.

SEOUL, Jan. 28 (Yonhap) -- North Korea fired several cruise missiles from its east coast on Sunday, the South Korean military said, days after Pyongyang test-fired new strategic cruise missiles from the west coast.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said the North's launch took place around 8 a.m. in waters off Shinpo Port, but did not elaborate, citing an ongoing analysis.

"While strengthening our monitoring and vigilance, our military has been closely coordinating with the United States to monitor additional signs of North Korea's provocations," the JCS said in a text message sent to reporters.

It marks the North's second cruise missile launch this year after it test-fired strategic cruise missiles, named Pulhwasal-3-31, toward the Yellow Sea on Wednesday.

South Korean court has granted a request to seize funds deposited by Japanese shipbuilder Hitachi Zosen Corp., made by a plaintiff who seeks compensation related to a wartime labor lawsuit, a lawyer in the case said Wednesday.

Last month, South Korea's Supreme Court ordered the company to pay the plaintiff 50 million won ($37,400) for damages over forced labor during Japan's 1910-1945 colonial rule, and the plaintiff filed the request with the Seoul Central District Court on Jan. 10 as the firm has not complied.

The Seoul High Court has upheld the 220 billion won fine imposed by the Fair Trade Commission on Google for prohibiting smartphone manufacturers, such as Samsung Electronics, from utilizing mobile operating system (OS) aside from Android, which was legal. On Jan 24, Seoul High Court's Administrative Division 6-3 ruled that the plaintiff lost the lawsuit filed by Google against the Fair Trade Commission, requesting to reverse the fine and order the correction of the practice.

SEOUL, Jan. 25 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's customs agency said Thursday it has caught two South Koreans for allegedly smuggling semiconductor chips produced by an American manufacturer to China worth more than 10 billion won (US$7.49 million).

The two officials of a foreign electronics distributing company, both in their 40s, were accused of exporting 96,000 U.S.-made computer chips worth 13.9 billion won combined to China without a customs declaration, according to the Korea Customs Service.

SEOUL, Jan. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea continued to experience a natural decline in it population in November as deaths continued to outnumber births, data showed Wednesday.

A total of 17,531 babies were born in November, down 7.6 percent from a year earlier, according to the data from Statistics Korea.

“I would rather give up another year of my youth studying and trying again if I don’t make it ‘in-Seoul.'”

Kim Tae-yoo, is set to graduate high school in just a month, but he says he would rather endure another year of studying if he is not accepted to a Seoul university.

Koreans divide the country's 335 colleges in two: those "in-Seoul," and the rest.

“Going to university outside of Seoul has never been an option. Even if the schools in other provinces offer full-time scholarships, I would not enroll there. I never considered graduating from a school in other provinces or living there,” Kim said.

'In-Seoul' or nothing

Even before graduation, students flocked to private cram schools that help students prepare to retake the Suenung, the national exam that plays a key role in university admissions.

As a student at a prestigious private high school in Seoul, Kim said half of his classmates were preparing to study another year to improve their Suneung score, rather than accepting a place at a lower-ranked college.

Education Ministry data shows an average of 20 percent of high school graduates opt to study for at least another year. At major schools in Gangnam, an area famous for its focus on education, the proportion rose to 47.7 percent.

The Defense Ministry said Friday that it will seek to remove a requirement that transgender women must have received hormone therapy to qualify for alternative forms of national service.

According to ministry officials, the ministry submitted a proposal on Dec. 13 to amend its ordinance on pre-service physical examinations, which are used to sort conscripts into ranked categories of physical fitness that determine the forms of service in which they can enlist.

In its proposal, the ministry seeks to allow transgender women, even if they have not undergone six months of hormone therapy, to enlist in alternative service, also known as public service, which includes three weeks of basic military training.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10982341

> SEOUL, Jan. 4 (Yonhap) -- The Military Manpower Administration (MMA) said Thursday it has created a cyber investigation team to step up monitoring on those who attempt to evade mandatory military service and crack down on draft dodgers. > > The MMA said the new team will look into those who post information on how to evade compulsory military service and individuals avoiding service through fraudulent screening and other measures. It is tasked with collecting and analyzing digital evidence. > > Under a revised military service law, which goes into effect in May, those who post and spread information regarding draft evasion will be subject to up to two years in prison or a fine of 20 million won (US$15,270).

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/10988693

> Losses from equity-linked securities (ELS) tied to the performance of the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) sold by Korea's top five commercial lenders have almost reached 230 billion won ($171 million) for this year, market watchers said Sunday. The high-risk, high-volatility index encompasses 50 shares of Chinese firms traded outside mainland China. > > More investors will incur losses in the coming months as the three-year securities mature, compounded further by the index plunging 11.12 percent since the beginning of the year. The HSCEI was among the few global benchmark indexes that recorded double-digit year-to-date declines.

Losses from equity-linked securities (ELS) tied to the performance of the Hang Seng China Enterprises Index (HSCEI) sold by Korea's top five commercial lenders have almost reached 230 billion won ($171 million) for this year, market watchers said Sunday. The high-risk, high-volatility index encompasses 50 shares of Chinese firms traded outside mainland China.

More investors will incur losses in the coming months as the three-year securities mature, compounded further by the index plunging 11.12 percent since the beginning of the year. The HSCEI was among the few global benchmark indexes that recorded double-digit year-to-date declines.