Addressing the world’s lowest birth rate in South Korea

Addressing the world’s lowest birth rate in South Korea

2024-09-06

In South Korea, a growing number of women are opting out of having children, driven by financial challenges and career demands. But egg-freezing is emerging as a trend that allows women to delay parenthood while keeping their options open for the future. VOA’s Bill Gallo explains from Seoul.

In Seongsu, a trendy district of Seoul, there are almost no strollers. Children are now a rarity across South Korea, which has the world’s lowest birth rate. But this pop-up store, run by a fertility clinic, is offering a new choice.

Egg freezing – it’s for those who may want children… just not right now.

Lee Chae-rin
Maria Hospital consultant
I don’t have a boyfriend now, and I don’t know when I’m going to get married. But I can’t turn back the clock on aging, so I invested money for the future to freeze my eggs.

Lee Chae-rin now works at Seoul’s Maria Hospital to convince other women of the benefits of egg-freezing – a move the 31-year-old says has given her more freedom.

Lee Chae-rin
Maria Hospital consultant
Maybe it’s just because I really enjoy my life right now. But I think people naturally want to follow their passions – whether it’s studying, working more, or pursuing hobbies. For me, it’s surfing.

Others cite financial strain and demanding work hours as barriers to starting a family.

Lee Jung-hyun
Office worker
And women also experience problems, such as career breaks. If people can’t solve these issues, they just give up on having a child.

Those pressures are understandable, says Maria Hospital’s Lim Tae-won.

Lim Tae-won
Maria Hospital vice president
In the end, people deprioritize marriage and childbirth. And later, when they do want to have children, they’ve become less fertile.

Instead, younger women can choose to freeze higher quality eggs for later use in vitro fertilization, or IVF.

At Maria Hospital, Lim says egg-freezing procedures have more than tripled since 2019, partly due to government subsidies. The Seoul city government pays for about half of egg-freezing expenses.

Lim Tae-won
Maria Hospital vice president
From this point of view, we think that egg-freezing will be a very essential solution to the low birth rate problem.

No one knows how much this will actually improve South Korea’s demographic crisis.
But it may allow more women to feel in control of their future.

Bill Gallo, VOA News, Seoul, South Korea.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

凍卵在韓國日益流行給予女性更多選擇

2024-09-06

在南韓，越來越多的女性選擇不生孩子，原因是經濟壓力和自我職業生涯。而凍卵已逐漸成為一種趨勢，讓女性能延後親職生涯，同時為未來保留更多選擇。來自美國之音的報導。

在首爾熱鬧的聖水站，幾乎看不到任何嬰兒車。兒童已成為南韓極罕見的存在，該國擁有全球最低的出生率。但一家生育診所經營的快閃店，正提供了一項新選擇－冷凍卵子。

這項技術適合那些想要孩子，但目前不適合的族群。

[[瑪麗亞醫院諮詢師李彩琳]]
“我目前沒有男友，也不知道何時會結婚。但我不能逆轉衰老，所以為了未來，我把錢拿來投資，冷凍我的卵子。”

李彩琳目前就職於首爾瑪麗亞醫院，向其他女性宣導、認識凍卵的各種好處。一位31歲的女性表示，這項選擇讓她感受到生活更加自由。

[[瑪麗亞醫院諮詢師李彩琳]]
“也許只是因為我現在很享受我的生活，但我認為人們會自然而然地追求自己的熱情，無論是在學習、工作，或者其他興趣上面。對我來說，我的興趣就是衝浪。”

還有其他人，因為經濟壓力和繁忙的工作，無法早日成立家庭。

[[上班族李貞賢]]
“也有女性會遭遇像是職業中斷等問題。如果無法解決這些問題，他們就只能放棄生孩子。”

瑪麗亞醫院副院長林泰元表示，這些壓力是可以理解的。

[[瑪麗亞醫院副院長林泰元]]
“最終，人們會將婚姻與生育的優先順序延後。但等到他們真的想要生孩子的時候，他們已經不太能生育。”

相反，年輕女性可以選擇凍存較高質量的卵子，以供日後進行人工受孕。

林泰元表示，由於政府的補助，從2019年起，瑪麗亞醫院的凍卵手術數量增加兩倍以上。首爾市政府會補助大約一半的手術費用。

[[瑪麗亞醫院副院長林泰元]]
“從這個觀點來看，我們認為凍卵將成為解決低出生率問題的重大方案。”

實際上，沒有人知道是否能有效改善南韓的人口危機。但是，這項技術可以讓更多女性對於自己的未來，擁有更多的掌控權。

更多新聞內容，請鎖定：
民視台灣台（152頻道）週日至週五晚上9:30
民視新聞台（53頻道）週二至週六凌晨1:00

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Nikkei’s headline read: “Taiwan’s Ko Wen-je accuses government of witch hunt.” In the story, Ko complains that what he finds “most disappointing” is that Taiwan spent 30 years overthrowing the KMT party state, only to have most of judiciary and media now being President Lai Ching-te’s political tools. Referring to a campaign finance scandal, Ko conceded that “we dare not say that we are absolutely not wrong” but complained that the media hype had magnified mistakes. Using American politics as an analogy, Ko said if the government under the Democratic Party in the U.S. went and raided the headquarters of the Republican Party, took away the computers and information saved, and used the information to check if every move is lawful, how would this look?

Ko Wen-je (Sept. 2)
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I can’t comprehend the motive for searching the residence, office and central party headquarters of the chair of a main opposition party.

In addition to Asian media reports, European and American media are also paying close attention. Bloomberg points out that Ko has denied any wrongdoing in the Core Pacific City corruption case. AFP notes that the TPP has eight seats in the Legislative Yuan and holds the balance of power, so Ko’s actions will have a profound impact on Taiwanese politics. The BBC’s Chinese language media quotes Yeh Yao-yuan, chair of International Studies and Modern Languages at America’s University of St Thomas as saying Ko’s image of political integrity had collapsed and it would be difficult for him to politically survive. However, Yeh also predicted there would be continue to be three forces in Taiwanese politics.

Huang Kuo-chang
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Many international friends and international journalists have taken the initiative to show care for our chair. The chair’s declarations to everyone are very clear. This is a marathon and we must prepare for a long-term resistance war.

The leader of Taiwan’s third largest political party in the last week has been arrested, then released from detention before being detained again. Nikkei Asia says Ko faces several years in jail if convicted for corruption and describes this as a “potential Shakespearean twist.”

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Sun to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
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Renowned Taiwanese K-pop star Tzuyu, from girl group Twice, has finally gone solo after nine years in the industry. She’s released her debut extended play “abouTZU”, along with a music video for the EP’s main song “Run Away.” The video shows Tzuyu breaking with her previous sweet image in favor of a more mature and sexy look. She’s also personally composed the lyrics to another song, “Fly,” and says she’d like to donate the royalties from “Fly” to help others.

Wearing a ponytail and looking more beautiful than ever, Twice member Tzuyu has released her first solo album, nine years after her debut.

The Tainan native doesn’t only make a big show of singing, but also her dancing skills. She’s the third member of Twice to go solo.

With singing and dancing, Tzuyu has appeared non-stop on TV music programs to promote the lead song “Run Away.” The lyrics were written by her management company, JYP Entertainment. In just four hours of its release, the video saw more than 1 million views on YouTube. Tzuyu fought hard for the opportunity to go solo.

Holding a hand-held light she teaches fans how to chant for her at concerts, her sweet smile as stunning as ever. Shuhua, another Taiwanese singer based in South Korea, shared the video on two stories on Instagram. The EP has a total of six songs. One titled “Fly” was written by Tzuyu herself.

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From a sweet little girl, to a solo singer who can stand on her own, Tzuyu has made use of her musical strengths to go to an even higher professional level.

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More than 100,000 pairs of shoes on sale at Taichung outlet mall

Bargain hunters on Friday flocked to an outlet mall in Taichung, where cheap is the word of the day. More than 100,000 pairs of shoes from over 60 brands are on sale. Additional discounts are on offer for buyers sporting socks and slides, a trendy Gen-Z look. If you want to buy but can’t find shoes your size, here are some tricks.

It’s 9 a.m. The outlet mall still hasn’t opened. But already, there is a large crowd of people waiting in line for the shopping spree of the year.

Shopper
They have shoes from a lot of big brands. Of course I want to have a look and buy some. First I’ll look for shoes for the kids, and then for my mom. I’ll take a look in a bit.

Look down and you’ll notice most people in line are wearing socks and slides. That’s because of a promotion launched by the shopping center. Come dressed in this trendy Gen-Z garb, to get a voucher for NT$100.

Shopper
I’m looking for a bargain, so of course if there’s additional promotions, I’ll comply. I wouldn’t usually wear something like this, it’s not my style.

Finally, it’s 10:30 a.m.. Let the shopping begin. The doors of the lift open and shoppers pour out, rushing to their objective.

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If the size is too big or small I won’t buy them. I look for shoes I like to try them on.

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If your favorite shoes aren’t your size, give them a try anyway. If it’s a full size or half a size too big, you can make them fit with a little ingenuity.

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If you come across a pair you like, it’s best to snap it up fast, even if it is half a size or a full size too big. We’re expecting 2,000 shoppers to come for the promotion today.

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In Pingtung, every October dozens of couples say “I do” all together, in a mass wedding organized by the county government. With big incentives dangled for participants, it’s an extremely popular event year after year. But this year, the rules are changing a little. Officials noticed that some people were trying to game the system by applying every year, but not getting married in the meantime. There are other ways of gaming the system too. They’ve implemented some new rules and measures in 2024, to make sure that everyone who ties the knot does so in good faith.

Many people dream of their wedding as the happiest day of their life. Every October, Pingtung County government holds a mass wedding, attended by the county commissioner as a witness to the couples’ vows.

Chou Chun-mi
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This year on October 20 we have the “Love You Just the Same” mass wedding. Aside from our gift voucher of NT$10,000, we’re also offering round-trip honeymoon flights to Tokyo and Seoul.

Any couple is eligible so long one of them is a registered resident of Pingtung. Participants get a free dress and makeover, as well as a gift voucher of NT$10,000, and a chance in a draw for flight tickets and home appliances. The event accepts 50 couples a year, and it’s normally fully signed up within seconds. But the county has noticed that some people are trying to game the system by applying for the event each year, and despite not getting a spot, they don’t get married in the meantime.

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Chien Mao-feng
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Member of public
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And it’s not just that people apply again and again. There are also couples who take part in multiple mass weddings in different parts of Taiwan, sometimes having several weddings in one year. Pingtung wants to improve its communication with other counties and local governments to root out this kind of opportunistic wedding fever.

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