South Korea offers up to US$29,000 cash for marriage to tackle birth-rate crisis
As
South Korea continues to grapple with plummeting birth rates and fears of regional depopulation, local governments are now expanding their efforts beyond childbirth subsidies to include cash incentives for marriage, covering everything from first dates to engagement and honeymoon expenses.
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While the urgency is clear, critics argue that these one-off financial incentives may do little to address the structural challenges behind delayed or declining marriage rates.
In Busan's Saha district, local authorities have promised up to 20 million won (US$14,700) in payments to couples who marry after taking part in a matchmaking event organised by the district.
Additional benefits include 500,000 won for dating expenses, 1 million won for engagement meeting costs and a 10 million won travel subsidy.
'This is one component of our population policy to counter the crisis of low birth rates and regional decline,' a district official said, adding that no couples had received the full payment yet.
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Other municipalities across the country are rolling out similar initiatives. In South Gyeongsang province's Geochang county, newlyweds aged 19 to 45 who live there for more than three months receive 600,000 won annually for three years.
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Asia Times
5 hours ago
- Asia Times
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Prior to the recent period of limbo, Japan-South Korea ties had improved markedly as part of a push by former President Yoon, former Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and former US President Joe Biden to strengthen trilateral relations among their countries. Since the trilateral Camp David Summit in August 2023, over 80 US-Korea-Japan dialogues have been convened to promote collaboration in areas ranging from economics to security to people-to-people exchange. However, with recent changes in political leadership, there are questions as to how Japan-South Korea relations will evolve in the coming months under the Shigeru Ishida and Lee administrations as the two leaders begin to engage. Why should the governments of Japan and South Korea recommit to cooperation now? To begin with, the two governments face worsening security threats. Both Japan and South Korea harbor long-standing concerns about China, as well as about North Korea's nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs. 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South China Morning Post
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