Population Strategy Committee Launched with Strong Authority... Ministry of Health and Welfare Pre-announces 'Basic Population Strategy Act Enforcement Decree'

Ministry of Health and Welfare to Announce Draft of Population Strategy Act Enforcement Decree
New Authorities: Prior Budget Consultation and Year-End Policy Evaluation

The government's population policy, which had previously focused on fragmented responses such as providing support for kindergarten care or distributing simple childbirth grants through individual ministries, will transition to a comprehensive government-wide control tower system with powerful budgetary and evaluation authority starting September 10. A large committee comprising 14 ministries—including the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Justice—will be formed, laying the groundwork for a national population strategy that encompasses all aspects, from immigration and foreign workforce management to restructuring the future industrial landscape.

Jino Kim, Senior Vice Chairman. The Asia Business Daily DB.

On August 2, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that, in line with the enforcement of the 'Basic Population Strategy Act' (formerly the Low Birth Rate and Aging Society Act) passed by the National Assembly in May, it will pre-announce a complete revision draft of the enforcement decree—including detailed implementation plans—by August 24, ahead of the Act coming into effect on September 10.

The core of this revision is to rename the Presidential Committee on Low Birth Rate and Aging Society as the 'Population Strategy Committee' and to grant it substantial authority. In particular, it specifies that the committee shall exercise 'prior consultation rights' over population-related project budgets. This means that whenever any ministry prepares a population-related initiative or budgets above a certain threshold, the committee must review and discuss the proposal in advance. The aim is to curb overlapping or populist budget execution and ensure stronger policy implementation.

The scope of participating ministries has been greatly expanded to bring about a full paradigm shift in population policy. The number of central government ministries officially represented on the committee will rise from the current nine to fourteen, with new additions such as the Ministry of Science and ICT and the Ministry of Justice. Core pillars of the strategy now include developing talent in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and advanced technology (Ministry of Science and ICT) as well as policies for attracting top foreign talent and immigrants (Ministry of Justice). To support this, specialized subcommittees will be established under the committee, covering fields such as social strategy, economic strategy, coordination and evaluation, and immigrant affairs.

The link between central and local governments in responding to the risk of regional extinction will also be strengthened. According to the revised rules, central government agencies and local governments are now required to designate a 'Population Policy Officer' to oversee and coordinate their respective population policies. In addition, the committee will conduct a population policy evaluation by the end of each year and notify the results to each ministry and local government, thereby building a performance management system that ensures immediate reflection of evaluation outcomes in the following year's budgets and policies.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.