Feb. 10

• ●[The 'Real Reason' Why Koreans Aren't Having Babies] "High expectations for kids are making the birth rate crisis worse" (The Chosun Daily)
  A Pew Research Center survey in 2021 revealed a perception unique to South Koreans: in a survey invovling 18,850 adutls from 17 countries, only South Koreans identified "material well-being" as what they value most in life.

Feb. 11

• ●Over half of young singles have been in asymmetrical relationships: survey (The Korea Herald)
  Some 54 percent of unmarried people in their 20s and 30s say they have been in a romantic relationship where the power dynamics were skewed toward one of the parties, a recent survey by a local matchmaking company found.
  
  

• ●'Chemyeon': the role of 'face' in shaping Korea's cultural dynamics (The Korea Herald)
  Lee Jung-ah, 36, recently ended her yearslong relationship with her boyfriend, mainly due to her parents' opposition.
  
  

• ●Top 0.1 pct of wage earners in Seoul made average 1.4 bln won in 2022 (The Korea Herald)
  The top 0.1 percent of wage earners in Seoul made an average of 1.4 billion won ($1.05 million) in 2022, triple the amount earned by the same cohort in Gangwon Province, data showed Sunday.
  
  

• ●[The 'Real Reason' Why Koreans Aren't Having Babies] "Outdated notions of maternal instinct fuel reluctance" (The Chosun Daily)
  In Korean society, there exists a pervasive pursuit of perfection, extending to the realm of parenting.

Feb. 12

• ●Former industry minister tasked with reversing Korea's dwindling birthrates (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The president's office on Monday officially appointed former Minister of Trade, Industry and Engergy Joo Hyung-hwan as the second-in-command of the Presidential Committee of Aging Society and Population Policy, following President Yoon Suk Yeol.
  
  

• ●Mass medical strike looms as doctors, government fail to make progress (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Neither doctors nor the government showed any sign of backing down ahead of a mass strike by doctors scheduled for this week.
  
  

• ●17% of workers say they work under different conditions from contract (The Korea Herald)
  Some 17.4 percent of South Korean workers said their actual working conditions were different from the ones they agreed upon before joining the company, a survey announced Monday showed.
  
  

• ●Too much social media hurts children's self-esteem, report suggests (The Korea Herald)
  researchers at Ewha Womans University analyzed the data of 1,412 elementary school students in 2019 and 1,397 elementary school students in 2020 to determine the effects of social media on one's perception of body before and after the COVID-19 outbreak.
  
  

• ●Health care crisis looms as doctors prepare for strike over med school quota expansion (The Korea Herald)
  Fears of a health care crisis were brewing in South Korea on Monday, as doctors and medical residents discussed taking collective action in protest of the government's planned hike in the medical school student quota.
  
  

• ●No. of schoolchildren to drop below 5m by 2026 (The Korea Herald)
  As South Korea continues to struggle with a remarkably low birth rate, the number of school-age children is estimated to fall below the 5 million mark in just two years.
  
  

• ●1 extra doctor means 0.11% lower chance of death: report (The Korea Herald)
  With South Korea pushing to increase the number of doctors in the country by expanding the medical school enrollment quota, a study has showed that the addition of one extra doctor per 100,000 people to the day-to-day health care sector can reduce the death rate by 0.11 percent.
  
  

• ●Doctors, govt. on collision course over medical school quota increase (The Korea Herald)
  Doctors and the government are on a collision course over the decision to significantly increase medical school seats, with doctors vowing to go on a strike and the government pledging a stern response, including even revoking doctors' licenses.

Feb. 13

• ●Student population expected to fall below 5 million by 2026 (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Korea's total number of students in elementary, middle, and high school is expected to fall below 5 million by 2026.
  
  

• ●Lunar New Year travel exposes generational digital divide (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Elderly Koreans had a tough time grabbing train seats to visit their families this Lunar New Year holiday.
  
  

• ●Gov't sighs in relief as trainee doctors avoid strike for now (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Trainee doctors, despite convening an overnight meeting, didn't decide to take part in a general strike to protest a planned hike in the medical school enrollment quota, much to the government's relief.
  
  

• ●S. Korean kids' screen time 3 times WHO recommendation: study (The Korea Herald)
  South Korean kids aged between three and four spend about 184.8 minutes a day watching screens of electronic devices such as smartphones.
  
  

• ●Seoul to subsidize W1m for mothers' postpartum care (The Korea Herald)
  The Seoul Metropolitan Government will provide mothers who give birth in Seoul with a subsidy of 1 million won ($753) per child in 2024, said the city government through a press release on Tuesday.
  
  

• ●4 out of 10 young adults forgo health care (The Korea Herald)
  More than 4 out of 10 young adults in South Korea have been unable to go to the hospital when they were sick because they were too busy or did not have enough money, a recent study showed.
  
  

• ●Under pressure, junior doctors leave strike decision hanging (The Korea Herald)
  Tensions continued to build Tuesday between doctors and the government, with a group of over 10,000 junior doctors ending their first discussion about joining the nationwide strike without reaching a conclusion.
  
  

• ●Seoul to provide $753 postpartum subsidy for all mothers giving birth in city (The Korea Times)
  The Seoul city government will provide a 1 million-won ($753) postpartum care subsidy for all mothers who give birth in the capital this year, city officials said Tuesday.
  
  

• ●PM says expanding workforce of doctors is starting point of healthcare reform (The Korea Times)
  Prime Minister Han Duck-soo called on the medical community Tuesday to cooperate with the government's plan to significantly increase the annual medical school enrollment quota, stating that it marks the starting point of healthcare reform.

Feb. 14

• ●Korea begs doctors to stop protesting med school quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  The Ministry of Health and Welfare on Wednesdy asked medical professionals to stop encouraging protests against the government's medical school enrollment hike and called for talks with young doctors.
  
  

• ●Over half of population resides in Seoul metropolitan area: data (The Korea Herald)
  More than half of South Korea's total population was found to reside in the capital city of Seoul and surrounding metropolitan cities, according to official data released by the government on Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Seoul to help more women to freeze eggs (The Korea Herald)
  The Seoul Metropolitan Government will double the number of subsidies it provides women to cryopreserve their eggs, said the city government on Wednesday, as part of the city government's measure to tackle falling birth rates in the capital city.
  
  

• ●Teenagers souring on marriage: survey (The Korea Herald)
  Teenagers in South Korea are becoming less keen to get married, while more than half believe that having children out of wedlock is acceptable, a study suggested Wednesday.
  
  

• ●Man calls police 399 times 'because he was lonely' (The Korea Herald)
  South Korean police on Wednesday said they were investigating a man in his fifties for obstruction of public duties after he prank-called the police hundreds of times "just because he was lonely."
  
  

• ●Med students mull strike over student quota expansion (The Korea Herald)
  With doctors groups still mulling a strike, incumbent medical students are also mulling collective action in protest of the government's announcement last week of an increase in the medical school enrollment quota by 2,000 from the current 3,058.
  
  

• ●Nurses support med school quota hike (The Korea Herald)
  The Korean Nursing Association on Wednesday pledged its support for the government plan to boost the enrollment quota at medical schools, in light of the doctors threatening a strike in protest of the plan.
  
  

• ●4 in 10 young Koreans aren't seeking medical care when sick (Hankyoreh)
  Four out of ten young South Koreans reported not visiting a hospital when they were sick or injured due to time constraints and difficulty affording medical costs, survey results show.
  
  

• ●Only 3 in 10 teenagers think marriage is necessary (The Korea Times)
  A mere three out of 10 teenagers believe that marriage is necessary, according to a survey released by the National Youth Policy Institute on Wednesday.

Feb. 15

• ●Gov't to expand telemedicine services if trainee doctors go ahead with strike (The Korea Times)
  The health ministry said Thursday that it will fully expand telemedicine services and mobilize assistant nurses if a major association of trainee doctors pushes ahead with a nationwide strike in protest of a plan to boost the number of medical students.
  
  

• ●Doctors rally nationwide against medical school quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Doctors nationwide rallied against the government plan to expand medical school admissions on Thursday.
  
  

• ●Govt. says nationwide doctors' strike unlikely despite growing grievances (The Korea Herald)
  A nationwide strike by doctors is unlikely to be realized, the health ministry said Thursday, though trainee doctors and medical school students have moved to take collective action against medical school enrollment quota hikes.
  
  

• ●Ministry downplays risk of doctors' strike despite growing calls for action (The Korea Herald)
  While medical circles have shown signs of momentum for collective action across the country, the Health Ministry on Thursday downplayed the possibility of them walking out of school compuses and jobs, saying it judges the likelihood of a full-scale joint action as "very low."
  
  

• ●1 in 6 elementary schools in Seoul to have under 40 students per grade: study (The Korea Herald)
  Amid a sharp decline in the school-age population due to a rapidly dropping birth rate, 1 out of 6 elementary schools in Seoul will have fewer than 40 students per grade level, government research suggested Thursday.
  
  

• ●1 out of 5 job-seekers in S. Korea aged 60 and above (The Korea Herald)
  With South Korea rapidly closing in on the "super-aged society" threshold, 20.1 percent of all job-seeking posts uploaded on the state-run job search website last year were by people aged 60 and above.
  
  

• ●Seniors at medical school to take 1-yr leave of absence against quota hikes (The Korea Times)
  Seniors at a medical school vowed Thursday to take a one-year leave of absence en masse in protest of the government's pla to raise the enrollment quota of medical schools.
  
  

• ●Korean labor market ages; 1 out of 5 job seekers is over 60 (The Chosun Daily)
  As South Korean society ages, the percentage of job seekers aged 60 and older has exceeded 20%.

Feb. 16

• ●Trainee doctors of 5 major hospitals to submit resignations en masse by Monday (The Korea Herald)
  Trainee doctors of five major general hospitals in Seoul have decided to submit their letters of resignation en masse Monday, in a move certain to intensify their strike threat over a plan to boost the number of medical students, a group of trainee doctors has said.
  
  

• ●Interns, residents begin mass resignations as strike begins (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Interns and residents at the top five hospitals of the country said they would resign by Monday, starting a mass strike against the government plan to expand medical school admissions.
  
  

• ●Med school students to file for leave next Tuesday in protes of quota hike (Korea JoongAng Daily)
  Medical school students nationwide plan to submit applications for leave en masse on Tuesday, following the government's decision to increase the medical school quota.
  
  

• ●More than 2 million self-employed Koreans are over the age of 60 (Hankyoreh)
  The number of self-employed South Koreans over the age of 60 surpassed 2 million for the first time last year.
  
  

• ●'Death sentence for Korean health care': Doctors nationwide protest increase in med school admission quota (Hankyoreh)
  "Is this really the country I think it is? Is this a socialist country? Is this the 'republic of prosecutors'? Hearing that the enrollment cap at medical schools would be increased by 2,000 people fet like a gut punch. Feb. 6 was a death sentence for Korean health care."
  
  

• ●4 in 10 Koreans foresee rising intergenerational conflicts at workplaces (The Korea Times)
  Four out of 10 Koreans anticipate a surge in generational conflicts within workplaces, a recent survey showed on Friday, shedding light on growing tenstions among different age groups, particularly between the younger MZ Generation and older people.