Business Leaders from South Korea and Japan Join Forces on Low Birthrate Solutions... Joint Response Body Launched

[Financial News] Business leaders in South Korea and Japan have officially launched a private-sector cooperation channel to jointly address their shared challenges of low birthrates and population decline. The two countries plan to share policy approaches and research experience on low birthrates while seeking practical solutions together, including greater job and income stability for young people and reduced financial burdens. 
KCCI said on the 30th that it held the first meeting and low-birthrate response symposium of the Korea-Japan Low Birthrate Response Exchange Committee at The Westin Sendai in Japan, and released the results of a Korea-Japan youth survey. With the first gathering of committee members from both countries, the exchange committee was formally launched as a private-sector cooperation channel to jointly respond to low birthrates and population decline.
The exchange committee was formed in line with efforts by the two governments, following last year's Korea-Japan summit, to address shared social issues such as regional revitalization and low birthrates and aging. It was created amid growing recognition in the business communities of both countries that private-sector exchanges are also needed. At a chairpersons' meeting in December last year, KCCI and JCCI adopted a joint statement saying they would establish a private exchange and cooperation body, share policy and research experience related to low birthrates, and seek sustainable solutions together.
The event was attended by Chey Tae-won, chairman of KCCI and the South Korean co-chair, Ken Kobayashi, chairman of JCCI and the Japanese co-chair, as well as committee members from both countries. Also present were Kim Jin-oh, vice chair of the Presidential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy; Akio Mimura, chair of the Conference for Choosing the Future; Hiroya Masuda, co-representative of the Conference for Choosing the Future; and other business, government and regional figures from both countries.
The Korea-Japan Low Birthrate Response Exchange Committee, jointly run by KCCI and the Japan Productivity Center, surveyed 2,000 young people aged 20 to 39 in each country, for a total of 4,000 respondents, online in June and July on their views about marriage, childbirth and childcare, employment, and hopes and anxieties about the future. 
The survey found that young people in South Korea were more positive about marriage and childbirth than their Japanese counterparts. Among unmarried young Koreans, 81.4% said they intended to marry. Specifically, 37.1% said they would like to marry if they met someone they wanted to marry, 35.7% said they would like to marry someday if possible, and 8.6% said they would like to marry as soon as possible. Another 18.6% said they had no intention of ever marrying. Among unmarried young people in Japan, 57.6% said they intended to marry, while 42.4% said they had no intention of ever marrying. 
Although attitudes toward marriage and childbirth differed, the survey also found common ground between young people in both countries on the conditions needed to make those goals a reality. When asked about conditions for marriage, with multiple responses allowed, the most common answer in both countries was stable employment and income for oneself and one's spouse. The figure was 51.8% in South Korea and 41.1% in Japan. When asked about conditions for raising children with peace of mind, the most common answer in both countries was also easing financial burdens. The figure was 56.0% in South Korea and 46.7% in Japan. 
A KCCI official said, "There are differences between the two countries in how young people think about marriage and childbirth, but we also confirmed common ground in the importance of stable jobs and income, as well as easing financial burdens." The official added, "The purpose of this exchange committee is to find solutions together, starting with the common challenges young people in both countries face in their daily lives."
In a keynote presentation, Jo Young-tae, head of the Population Policy Research Center at Seoul National University, presented a strategy to ease low birthrates in South Korea and Japan by expanding young people's geographic choices.
Professor Jo said, "For years, both countries have reduced the burden of childbirth and childcare through cash support and parental leave, but now they must also strengthen policies that lower population density." He proposed lowering barriers for young people in both countries to enter each other's labor markets. As future areas of private-sector cooperation between South Korea and Japan, he suggested designing pathways that lead from tourism to residence and workation, and then to employment and settlement; improving systems such as visas, qualification recognition and social insurance; and conducting joint research on roadmaps for entering the other country's labor market as well as the demographic and economic ripple effects.
Yoo Il-ho, head of the labor and employment team at KCCI, said, "South Korea and Japan are facing common challenges of low birthrates, population decline and regional extinction." He added, "With the launch of this exchange committee, we will develop it into a practical channel for cooperation where the private sectors of both countries share wisdom and experience and work together on the sustainability of young people's lives and local economies." 

[email protected] Im Su-bin Reporter