South Korea's birth rate

 

Children playing in Seoul. Ahn Young-joon / AP  

South Korea's birth rate  

Shortage of pediatricians as fewer births in South Korea  

 

South Korea has a shortage of pediatricians, Reuters reports. In part, this is because the country has one of the world's lowest birth rates, which, according to pediatricians the news agency spoke to, provides fewer resources and leads to people fleeing the industry.  

 

The number of pediatrician surgeries has fallen by 12.5 percent in the past five years, according to the Seoul Institute, a state-run think tank.  

 

Doctors are now raising the alarm that hospitals are finding it difficult to fill the positions at the children's clinics and that this could endanger the health of children in the country.  

 

 

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-Hoon. Ahn Young-joon / AP  

 

Seoul's mayor wants to welcome more foreigners  

 

South Korea has one of the world's lowest birth rates and one way to curb the development is, according to Seoul's mayor Oh Se-Hoon, to welcome more foreigners, writes The Korea Times. 

 

It was after a visit to his counterpart in Tokyo, where the population has become more open to welcoming foreigners, that Oh launched the idea for Seoul to follow suit – to solve both the population crisis and the shrinking domestic workforce. 

 

- Welcoming them as part of our city is the fastest way to secure the city's workforce.