{"id":2201274,"date":"2023-06-05T18:52:53","date_gmt":"2023-06-05T09:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2201274"},"modified":"2023-06-06T19:08:24","modified_gmt":"2023-06-06T10:08:24","slug":"in-south-korea-demographics-are-turning-classrooms-into-retirement-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/06\/in-south-korea-demographics-are-turning-classrooms-into-retirement-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"In South Korea, demographics are turning classrooms into retirement homes"},"content":{"rendered":"
South Korea is wrestling with what may be the world\u2019s most daunting demographic challenge. With a <\/span>rate of aging<\/span><\/a> that outpaces any developed nation and a fertility rate that lags behind all other countries, South Korea could shrink by nearly half its size within the century. These demographic pressures are particularly evident in two key areas: schools and rural communities.<\/span><\/p>\n To understand the scale of this shift, one need only look to the past. In 1960, South Korea <\/span>outstripped<\/span><\/a> every contemporary Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) country in birth rate, boasting a robust average of just over six births per woman.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fast forward six decades and this figure is all but a relic of history. By 2022, the fertility rate had plummeted to a startling <\/span>0.78<\/span><\/a>. Despite sustained government efforts to reverse this downward spiral, signs indicate this rate will drop even further.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Last year, South Korea\u2019s population, which <\/span>peaked<\/span><\/a> at 51.8 million in 2019, began to recede.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With dwindling student populations and rapidly aging rural constituencies, these sectors are at the forefront of South Korea\u2019s shifting demographic realities. The question for policymakers now is not whether they should respond but how \u2014 and with what degree of urgency.<\/span><\/p>\n DISAPPEARING SCHOOLS<\/b><\/p>\n South Korea is witnessing a rapid contraction in its school-aged population. In 2010, <\/span>10 million<\/span><\/a> young South Koreans were of school age. But even then, that figure was a significant drop from the peak of <\/span>14.4 million<\/span><\/a> in 1980.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n By 2022, this number dwindled further to <\/span>7.4 million<\/span><\/a>. Over a decade, from 2012 to 2022, enrollment in primary and secondary schools <\/span>fell<\/span><\/a> from 7.38 million to 5.8 million. Given the country\u2019s meager birth rate, a continued decline in these figures seems inevitable.<\/span><\/p>\n