South Korea proposed to reform the country’s declining birth rate during a briefing with foreign correspondents, acknowledging both the scale of the demographic crisis and the challenges these reforms may face in reversing the trend.

The announcement by Sung Tae-yoon, the presidential chief of staff for national policy, followed President Yoon Suk-yeol’s introduction of the “4+1 reform” agenda on Aug. 29. This plan targets four primary sectors — pension, education, healthcare and labor — with an additional focus on birth rate, which Sung emphasized is influenced by various factors across these areas.

South Korea’s fertility rate has reached record lows,