SEOUL, Sept. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea could soon face a tipping point where traditional monetary policy loses its potency, Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong warned Friday, citing the country’s rapid demographic decline as a structural risk that could push interest rates toward their effective floor. Speaking in Washington at the International Monetary [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Koreans are experiencing relatively high levels of anxiety about aging, particularly over declining health and financial insecurity, with younger adults reporting greater unease than their elders, according to new research released Tuesday. The Hanyang University Institute on Aging surveyed 4,254 adults nationwide last year and developed what it [...]
SANCHEONG, August 4 (Korea Bizwire) — In the aftermath of back-to-back disasters, the rural county of Sancheong in South Gyeongsang Province finds itself overwhelmed, under-resourced, and emblematic of a broader crisis facing South Korea’s depopulating regions. Slammed first by a massive wildfire in March and then by record-breaking rains in July that dumped nearly 800 [...]
SEOUL, June 18 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea faces a steep economic cost from population decline and rapid aging, with public spending on pensions and healthcare projected to double to 20% of GDP by 2050, according to a report released Tuesday by the Bank of Korea. In the report titled “Employment Trends and Implications Based [...]
SEOUL, May 14 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s political and labor circles are locked in heated debate over a proposal to raise the legal retirement age from 60 to 65, reflecting growing tensions between an aging population and youth employment concerns. The issue, reignited during Labor Day remarks by Democratic Party leader Lee Jae-myung, has polarized [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Most Seoul residents now view 70 as the threshold of old age, and nearly 9 in 10 support extending the retirement age, according to the latest annual “Seoul Survey” released by the city government on Wednesday. The 2024 edition of the wide-ranging study, which polled 5,000 citizens, found that [...]
SEOUL, March 13 (Korea Bizwire) — With South Korea entering a super-aged society, the looming milestone of one million people living with dementia is casting a long shadow over the nation’s social fabric, presenting unprecedented challenges in caregiving and healthcare infrastructure. According to data released by the Ministry of Health and Welfare on March 12, the [...]
SEOUL, March 5 (Korea Bizwire) — The number of abandoned homes in South Korea has reached over 1.5 million, largely due to an aging population and urban migration trends, data showed Wednesday. According to the data compiled by the state-run Korea Research Institute for Construction Policy, based on Statistics Korea’s latest housing census, the number [...]
SEOUL, Feb. 28 (Korea Bizwire) — Feeling listless and uninterested in daily activities may not be a natural part of aging but rather a sign of depression that requires prompt medical attention, medical experts say. Depression in older adults shares many diagnostic criteria with other age groups, including persistent feelings of sadness, loss of interest in [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 27 (Korea Bizwire) — A presidential committee on aging society and population said Friday the government will come up with a demographic policy blueprint in the near future, as South Korea has formally become a “super-aged” society. The remark came after the government data showed the number of South Koreans aged 65 or [...]