▶ Introduction
orea’s total fertility rate (TFR)—the average number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime—has shown signs of recovery, reaching approximately 0.80 births per woman in 2025 on an annual basis.
This marks a slight increase from 0.75 in 2024 and suggests a gradual rebound from the lowest point of the low-fertility period.
The number of births has also continued to rise in 2025. From January to November, the cumulative number of births reached approximately 233,700, an increase of about 6% compared to the previous year, indicating early signs of a modest recovery.
Nevertheless, the total fertility rate remains among the lowest in the world and falls significantly short of the replacement level of 2.1 births per woman—the threshold required to prevent natural population decline.
Structural challenges continue to discourage marriage and childbearing, including high housing costs, employment insecurity among young people, and the burdens associated with childcare.
The 9th Seoul Population Symposium goes beyond pronatalist rhetoric and narratives centered on individual responsibility.
Instead, it seeks to examine the social and institutional conditions that enable people to feel that “Having a child is a viable choice.”
Drawing on domestic and international policy cases, as well as the practical experiences of corporations and local governments, the symposium aims to conduct a structural analysis of the environments that make such choices feasible and to explore sustainable and actionable solutions.
Through this discussion, the symposium reframes the low birthrate issue not as a matter of short-term improvements in indicators, but as a fundamental task requiring the redesign of social structures.
It aims to serve as a platform for public discourse that outlines practical directions, enabling government, businesses, and local communities to fulfill their respective roles in addressing this challenge.
▶ Overview
Title : The 9th Seoul Population Symposium
Date : April 8 (Wed), 2026, 09:00~12:00
Venue : Council Chamber, The Korea Chamber of Commerce & Industry(B2F)
Host : The Financial News, Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future
Sponsors : residential Committee on Ageing Society and Population Policy, National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, The Population Association of Korea, Health and Welfare Association, Korea Childcare Promotion Institute
Contact : Seoul Population Symposium Secretariat
Tel. 02-6965-0014 / E-mail. 8amwon@fnnews.com
| Time | Section | Program |
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| 08:30 - 09:00 | Registration | |
| 09:00 - 09:30 | Opening |
Opening Remarks Song, Eui Dal President, The Financial News |
Congratulatory Remarks Kim, Jong Hoon Chairman, Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future (Chairman, HanmiGlobal) |
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Welcoming Remarks Kim, Kyung Sun President, Health and Welfare Association Kim, Mi Ae Floor Leader (People Power Party), Health and Welfare Committee, National Assembly |
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| 09:30 - 10:00 | Keynote | Challenges of a Low Birthrate and Aging Society - Redesigning the Social Structure - Yamasaki Shiro Chief Secretary-General, Population Strategy Headquarters, Cabinet Secretariat, Japan |
| 10:00 - 10:20 | Special Lecture | Responding to Low Fertility in Korea: Policies and Challenges Lee, Young President, Korea Institute of Public Finance |
| 10:20 - 10:40 | Speech | Who Will Care for the Elderly?: The Crisis of Elder Care and Policy Responses Park, Cheol Sung Director, Hanyang Institute of Population and Policy Research (HY-IPP) |
| 10:40 - 11:00 | Our People, Our Han, Jae Seok HR Management Team Manager, KT&G |
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| 11:00 - 11:20 | Proposing Technological Solutions to the Population Challenge Yang, Luke Zigbang Director of Social Value & Policy |
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| 11:20 - 12:00 | Panel Discussion |
Enabling Togetherness in an Age of Individualization: The Role of Social Connection, Workplaces, and Policy Moderator YI, In Sill President, Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future Panelists Noh, Jung Hoon Director General, Population Policy Coordination Division Yang, Luke Zigbang Director of Social Value & Policy Kim, Uk Head of Fertility BU, Merck |
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Yamasaki ShiroChief Secretary-General, Population Strategy Headquarters, Cabinet Secretariat, Japan
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Lee, YoungPresident, Korea Institute of Public Finance
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Park, Cheol SungDirector, Hanyang Institute of Population and Policy Research (HY-IPP)
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Han, Jae SeokHR Management Team Manager, KT&G
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Yang, Luke
Zigbang Director of Social Value & Policy
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YI, In SillPresident, Korean Peninsula Population Institute for Future
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Roh, Jung HunDirector, Division of Population Policy Coordination of the Ministry of Health and Welfare
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Kim, Uk
Head of Fertility BU, Merck
Biography Born in Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1954, he graduated from the Faculty of Law at the University of Tokyo in 1978 and entered the Ministry of Health and Welfare (currently the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). He has held a number of senior government positions, including Deputy Director-General of the Headquarters for Elderly Care Measures at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Director-General for Policy Coordination at the Cabinet Office, Executive Secretary to the Prime Minister, Director-General of the Social Welfare and War Victims’ Relief Bureau at the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and Director-General for Regional Revitalization at the Cabinet Secretariat. He subsequently served as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Japan to Lithuania from July 2018 to November 2021. Throughout his career, he played a key role in the development and implementation of the long-term care insurance system. He was also responsible for a wide range of policy areas, including youth employment measures, support for low-income populations, policies addressing declining birth rates, and regional revitalization. In September 2021, he was awarded the Order for Merits to Lithuania (Diplomatic Star) by the Government of Lithuania in recognition of his distinguished service. From January 2022, he served as Secretary-General of the Secretariat of the Headquarters for Building an All-Generation Social Security System at the Cabinet Secretariat, concurrently serving as Special Advisor to the Cabinet Secretariat until October 2025. He has held his current position since November 2025. Selected Publications Population Strategy Bill: Is There a Way to Halt Population Decline? (Nikkei Publishing Inc.) Population Decline and Social Security: Overcoming Isolation and Contraction (Chuokoron-Shinsha
EDUCATION 1998. 5. Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Michigan 1989. 2. MA in Economics from Seoul National University 1987. 2. BA in Economics from Seoul National University PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 2024.09.~ President, Korea Institute of Public Finance (KIPF) 2002.03.~2024.09. Professor, Hanyang University 2020.07.~2024.06 Dean, College of Economics and Finance, Hanyang University 2015.10.~2017.05 Vice Minister, Ministry of Education 2012.08.~2015.10 Dean, Office for Planning and Budget, Hanyang University 2000.07.~2002.02 Research Fellow, Korea Developing Institute (KDI) 1998.02.~2000.06 Faculty Research Associate Center for Institutional Reform and the Informal Sector (IRIS) Department of Economics, University of Maryland 1998.06.~2000.06 Consultant, the World Bank (WBI, ECA, ESA)
[Education] B.A. in Economics, Yonsei University M.A. in Economics, Yonsei University Ph.D. in Economics, University of Pennsylvania [Professional Experience] Director, Hanyang Institute of Population and Policy Research Dean, College of Economics and Finance, Hanyang University Professor, Department of Economics, National University of Singapore President, Korea Labor and Employment Relations Association Member, Presidential Committee on National Cohesion Public Interest Member, National Labor Relations Commission
Yonsei University, Department of Law Korea University, Graduate School of Labor Studies, Department of Labor Law OCI Co., Ltd., HR Management Team, Manager KT&G Corporation, HR Innovation Team / HR PI Team, Senior Pro KT&G Corporation, Head of Human Resources Team
[ENGLISH] Career Reporter, News Division — CTS Christian Television Co., Ltd. News Desk (Deputy Director) & Anchor, News Division — C Channel Broadcasting Co., Ltd. Head of Planning & PR, Management Planning Division — C Channel Broadcasting Co., Ltd. Editor-in-Chief, Newstree (Media Startup) — Christian Media Group Co., Ltd. Director of HR & Management, PropTech 'Nemo' — Sugarhill Co., Ltd. Head of New Business Division, PropTech 'Nemo' — Sugarhill Co., Ltd. Vice President & Chief Growth Officer, PropTech 'Nemo' — Sugarhill Co., Ltd. Director, Social Value & Policy Division — Zigbang Co., Ltd. (Current)2 [Education] B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication — Yonsei University M.A. in Journalism, Graduate School of Journalism & Mass Communication — Yonsei University
Insill Yi is currently a President of the Korean Peninsula Population Institute for future. She was a Professor of Graduate School of Economics, a Director of Nam Duck-Woo Economic Research Institute, and Vice-President for Public Affairs at Sogang University. She served for Korean government as the 12th Commissioner of Statistics Korea from the private sector also for the first time. She also served for National Assembly Budget Office as a Chief of Economic Analysis Division. She also worked as a senior research fellow and director of the Center for Finance and Tax, at Korea Economic Research Institute. She worked as a senior economist and team leader of financial analysis team, for Hana Bank Research Institute. She had been and is currently active in participating the governmental committees. She is publishing books, articles and expressing various opinions in academic journals and newspapers. She served for the president and is currently honorary president of the Korean Women Economic Association, the Association of Korean Economic Studies, and the Korean Economic Association. She has a bachelor’s degree in economics and geology from Yonsei University and a doctoral degree from the University of Minnesota USA.
Head of Fertility BU, Merck
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02-6965-0014
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8amwon@fnnews.com