Dear MEL Topic Readers,
How South Korea's new president could shake up the region
The population of South Korea had been increasing for the last several decades until 2000 and the current population is about 51 million. However, because of the hypercompetitive job market, super-expensive educational expenditures for private tutoring, skyrocketing housing prices, and persistent anti-feminism, South Korea’s fertility rate has been drastically declining recently. In fact, it marked 0.82 last year and experienced the first decline in the population in history. If you look at Seoul, the capital and the most populated area, the total fertility rate was only 0.64, and it was 0.75 in the second-largest area, Busan. This is one major economic and demographic problem in South Korea. On March 10, the next president was elected. He will lead the nation for the next five years from May. In addition to the aforementioned problems, South Korea has very sensitive and explosive issues with its neighbors, border and military tensions with North Korea, heavy economic dependence on China, and territorial and historic disputes with Japan. Though the power of South Korea’s president is substantial, his term is limited to five years and no re-election. Also, he won with a less-than-one percent margin in the election. Will the conservative, ex-prosecutor Yoon Suk Yeol manage and lead the nation to a brighter future in the volatile environment?
Enjoy reading the article and learning about the challenges that the newly elected South Korea’s president is facing.
No comments:
Post a Comment