President Shin Youngseok Joins Public Awareness Campaign on Population Issues

On Friday, May 23, 2025, KIHASA President Shin Youngseok joined a relay campaign aimed at raising public awareness and building national consensus on the challenges of population decline and aging.

The campaign, launched under the slogan “Let’s strive to make Korea a country where children are happy, youth can nurture hope, and the elderly lead fulfilling lives,” has been jointly run by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Human Resource Development Institute for Health and Welfare. It has been conducted in a relay format by key figures from various sectors since October 2024.

KIHASA traces its origins to the National Family Planning Center established in 1970. It was later reorganized as the Korea Institute for Family Planning, before becoming the Korea Health Development Institute and finally the Korea Institute for Population and Health in 1981. In 1989, it was renamed to the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, its current name. For over 50 years, KIHASA has served as a national policy research institute, leading the development and planning of health, welfare, and social policies in Korea.

President Shin took part in the campaign after being nominated by Baek Il-hyun, President of the National Youth Policy Institute. President Shin, in turn, nominated Lee Hyung-hoon, President of the Korea Public Tissue Bank, and Shin Kyung-rim, President of the Korean Nurses Association, as the next participants. President Shin expressed his hope that the campaign would bolster public interest and encourage action on population issues.