"You can't just improve your birth rate...Immigrants urgently need to make a big change."

[Anchor]
The government and each local government are working hard to increase the birth rate, but in fact, it is already difficult for Korea to expect a population rebound only by giving birth.

It is pointed out that there is an urgent need to improve the immigration system to increase the population.

Reporter Kim Hyun-ah reports.

[Reporter]
children who keep decreasing

From the West to Asia to Africa, low birth rates are a common phenomenon on every continent.

However, Hungary's birth rate has rebounded from 1.25 in 2010 to 1.59 in 2021.

This is thanks to unconventional policies such as canceling loan principal and income tax in proportion to the number of children and guaranteeing salaries for three years of parental leave.

However, Hungary's fertility rate has recently fallen back to the 1.3 level, and there are also major side effects such as rising prices and worsening fiscal conditions.

In addition, even if the total fertility rate in Korea increases to 2.1 people, the number of working-age people will decrease by 8 million, making it impossible to maintain the industry.

Because of this, experts point out that domestic immigration should be actively expanded.

Germany, which focused on immigration of technical workers lacking professional and manpower, and Singapore, which actively accepted new technology companies and talents, are considered successful examples of increasing the production population through immigration.

[Kim Hyun-jung / Deputy Professor of the Graduate School of International Studies at Dong-A University] (Germany) thinks that any industry can have skilled and unskilled workers with experience. For those who have a high experience axis and become skilled workers, it is good to settle down. So, it allows us to come into the track of acquiring settlement and citizenship....]

[Youngsoo Kim / Senior Researcher at the Institute for Industrial Economics and Trade: I said that the lack of labor after the point of population contraction shows a duality (lack of both simple and new technology personnel). Strategies to actively attract foreign workers centered on major new technology personnel (like Singapore) are very important.]

It is pointed out that we, too, should fundamentally redesign the goals and methods of immigration policy, as immigration policy has already become a necessity.

I'm Kim Hyunah of YTN.