President Lee: "Despite Astronomical Budgets, No Solution to Population Issue... Complete Paradigm Shift Needed"

President Lee Presides Over Senior Secretary Meeting on the 11th
"By 2060, Korea Will Have the Highest Elderly Population Ratio in the World"

On the 11th, President Lee Jae-myung stated, "There are projections that by around 2060, South Korea will become the country with the highest proportion of elderly people in the world," adding, "It is time to completely overhaul the paradigm of our population policy by going beyond existing frameworks, methods, and limitations."

At the Senior Presidential Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House that afternoon, President Lee said, "Over the past several decades, our society has implemented vast policies and poured astronomical budgets into them, but we have still not been able to find a breakthrough to solve the population issue. Meanwhile, due to the rapid aging of our society, we have entered a super-aged society since last year, with people aged 65 or older now accounting for over 20% of the population."

President Lee Jae-myung is speaking at the Senior Secretary Meeting held at the Blue House on the 11th. September 11, 2026. Photo by Yonhap News Agency

President Lee emphasized, "Given the complex nature of the population issue, we must strive to establish fundamental measures by comprehensively considering not only low birth rates and aging but also balanced development, the diversification of family structures, youth employment, and work-family balance among various social, economic, and cultural factors." He added, "It is also necessary to build a close cooperative system between the central and local governments to expand successful cases nationwide."

In addition, President Lee addressed the reorganization of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy into the Population Strategy Committee, describing it as "the beginning of a new chapter for South Korea's population policy." He noted, "Fortunately, the number of births has been rising recently," and continued, "We must do our utmost to discover a variety of practical solutions so that this trend does not remain a temporary phenomenon but instead leads to a fundamental transformation of the population structure."

Meanwhile, President Lee reflected on his state visit to France from the 6th to the 10th and announced the upcoming 1st Korea–Central Asia Summit, which will be held in Seoul next week. He went on to say, "As everyone knows, the global order is rapidly becoming more multipolar. Now is the time to join hands with more countries and expand our diplomatic scope into more diverse regions."

He added, "As the international order passes through a tunnel of profound chaos, it is more vital than ever for us to strengthen our capacity, broaden our diplomatic horizons, and wisely resolve various issues through close cooperation with the international community. We must steadily pave the way ahead, always keeping in mind a better tomorrow for our people and the national interest."

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