NUMBER OF NEWBORNS REBOUND IN KOREA IN 2024

Hello and welcome.

It's Friday February 28th here in Seoul.

I'm Min Sunhee.

Today we start off our talk on various social issues here that made international headlines with the focus on last year's rebound in the number of newborns here in Korea.

For this I have Kelly Kasulis Cho with The Washington Post.

Kelly welcome back.

I also have writer Colin Marshall with the pundit's take on the media coverage today.

Colin it's good to have you here.

1) Kelly, let's start with some promising news.

Korea saw a rebound in the number of newborns last year for the first time in nine years.

Now this was covered by the foreign media as well.

What was the gist of their coverage?

2) Colin, a number of reasons have been offered to explain the rebound.

What are your thoughts based on your observations?

3) Kelly, a British daily has linked the rebound to government efforts.

First, do touch upon some of the incentives for those planning to start a family here, and do you believe they have been effective?

4) Colin, how does Korea ensure that this latest rebound is not a one-time phenomenon?

I mean, foreign media coverage of the falling birth here in this part of the world have often included the concerns of critics who touch upon the lack of policy consistency.

5) Kelly, The Washington Post carried a rather interesting article earlier this month about a Nobel Prize winner "decoding" people's reservations about having kids.

First, do share details of this coverage with us, and then, do share your take on these findings based on your observations here in Korea.

6) Colin, findings for last year show the number of men taking childcare leave here in Korea soaring past 30% for the first time.

What are the broader implications of this reality for the Korean society?

7) Meanwhile Kelly, findings shared by Statistics Korea show life satisfaction among Koreans fell for the first time in four years with Korea ranking 33rd out of 38 OECD nations.

Now, to be clear, these findings represent the sentiment of Koreans back in 2023.

How do you explain these findings?

8) Colin, those at top of the life satisfaction list are countries in northern Europe including Finland, Denmark, Iceland and Sweden.

What do you suppose are their common traits and how do they differ from South Korea?

9) Kelly, also here in Korea, more than 8 out of 10 people have been found to 안락사를 지지하는 것으로 나타났습니다.

Do tell us a bit about the debate over euthanasia.

10) Colin, what can you tell us about the diverse cultural perspectives with regard to euthanasia?

All right.