Kim Jin-o (right), vice chair of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, meets with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo (left) at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government building in Andong on Monday to discuss strategies for addressing the region's low birth rate and aging challenges. [Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy]
Kim Jin-o (right), vice chair of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, meets with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo (left) at the North Gyeongsang Provincial Government building in Andong on Monday to discuss strategies for addressing the region's low birth rate and aging challenges. [Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy]

Kim Jin-o, vice chair of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, said Monday that the country's low birth rate and aging population cannot be addressed by the central government alone, pledging to identify and scale up successful local initiatives and link them to national policy.

Kim made the remarks during a meeting with North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo at the provincial government building in Andong, where he also announced plans to hold meetings with all 16 metropolitan and provincial governments.

Kim highlighted two North Gyeongsang programs as examples of local innovation filling gaps left by central government policy: "K-Bodeum 6000," an all-day integrated care service, and a grandparent-grandchild care program that helps grandparents cover childcare gaps for dual-income and single-parent families. He urged the province to keep building conditions that allow children to be raised locally.

Governor Lee said last year's provincial campaign — framed as a "war on low birth rates" — had moved beyond slogans to produce results felt on the ground across dating, childbirth, childcare, residential support and work-life balance. "This year, we will double down on policies with proven results and boldly restructure those with low impact," he said.

Lee also stressed that addressing the demographic crisis must be the top national priority. He called for the establishment of a national population policy research institute — tentatively named the National Institute of Population Policy — in North Gyeongsang Province, requested improvements to medical fee schedules and patient co-payments to ease the financial burden of integrated care, and asked that the national subsidy rate, currently set at 50 percent, be raised.

The meeting was arranged to strengthen cooperation between the central and local governments ahead of the launch of the Population Strategy Committee in September. The committee plans to hold similar meetings with the remaining 15 metropolitan and provincial governments.


thlee@heraldcorp.com