[INTERVIEW] Seongnam mayor turns matchmaker-in-chief to boost city's birthrate

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[INTERVIEW] Seongnam mayor turns matchmaker-in-chief to boost city's birthrate

Published: 27 Dec. 2023, 16:32 Updated: 27 Dec. 2023, 19:38

CHO JUNG-WOO
cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr

Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin speaks in an interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Dec. 19 in Seongnam, Gyeonggi. [PARK SANG-MOON]

SEONGNAM, Gyeonggi — Seongnam, whose youth population is nearly 200,000 thanks to the numerous tech companies based in the city, is hoping to transform into a city of love.

The doctor-turned-politician, Seongnam Mayor Shin Sang-jin, hopes to address the city’s staggering birthrate by implementing “practical” measures that could improve people’s views on marriage.

Korea’s fertility rate dropped for the seventh year to the lowest globally at 0.78. Seongnam's fertility rate last year was even lower, at 0.76.

Shin's desire to raise the falling fertility rate motivated the city government to implement its unprecedented matchmaking program for young residents.

Seongnam city this year hosted five rounds of mass blind-dating events dubbed “Solomon's Choice.”

A total of 99 couples have emerged from the events.

The city received more than 2,500 applications, of which only 490 could participate.

“I have always been interested in solving the low fertility rate way before I became the city's mayor in July last year as a doctor and a legislator,” Shin said during a recent interview with the Korea JoongAng Daily in his office in Jungwon District, Seongnam.

“It felt as if the measures presented by the government in helping young people to get married and raise a family had limitations and failed to yield tangible results.”

In addition to the motivation behind the blind date program, the Seongnam mayor, during his interview with Korea JoongAng Daily CEO, Cheong Chul-gun, discussed his vision of the role of the city in contributing to Korean society, including immigration and fostering high-tech industries such as AI.

The following are excerpts from that conversation, edited for clarity.

Q. What was the city’s motivation behind initiating the matchmaking project?

A. The biggest motivation was Seongnam’s low birthrate, which is even lower than the nationwide figure. I changed the name of the city government’s population policy bureau to the “low birthrate response bureau” to address the issue more effectively. I believe the city should draw up practical measures that could encourage people to get married and give birth.

Also, as a father of two daughters, I realized how the youth struggle to find partners because of their busy work lives. I thought offering a “trustful” blind-dating event hosted by the city government and letting young people meet each other in a more natural group setting would be helpful.

We have hosted five blind-dating events this year and plan to host another five on a bigger scale next year. The project also impacted those who joined the event, as 88 percent said their perspective on marriage changed for the better.

What have you realized is crucial to increase the low birthrate?

Having a positive view toward marriage from the time one is young is essential. We once invited elementary school students who won prizes in a book report competition to the city government, and I remember a student saying that they did not want to get married after seeing a married couple quarreling. The scene made the student conclude marriage was not good. So, improving this perspective needs to begin in schools. When I was young, during the baby boom, I was told that we should raise one child well instead of having so many. And I thought that was what I had to follow. The Education Ministry and related authorities must educate young people that marriage is a blessing.

Participants of the Seongnam city government's mass matchmaking event listen as the city's mayor, Shin Sang-jin, speaks at Gravity Seoul Pangyo in Bundang District on July 2. [SEONGAM CITY GOVERNMENT]

Are there other measures the city is promoting to overcome its low birthrate?

The city offers subsidies to all residents who conceive babies and give birth. We support a family’s first child with 300,000 won, which goes up to a million won for the third child. There are multiple measures by the city government to encourage people to raise children, but we are currently more focused on drawing up mid- to long-term measures that could help those who refrain from having children due to financial issues such as the high cost of private education.

Immigration is surfacing as a potential measure to resolve Korea's dwindling birthrate. Seongnam is also home to many foreigners residing in Korea. What are some major programs that the city is promoting to help the lives of these foreigners?

Around 32,000 foreigners live in Seongnam, which accounts for the ninth-largest population of foreigners among localities in Gyeonggi. We offer private education subsidies for the children of multicultural families in the city to take lessons in creative subjects, such as arts, music and sports. We also help them study for certificates and licenses that could help them get jobs, such as barista training. I have taken a keen interest in the poor working conditions of foreign laborers since 1992 when I used to provide free medical diagnoses to foreigners in need every Sunday. I have wanted to help them since I began my term, and such measures are crucial since Korean society should shift toward a multicultural society. The city plans to roll out more measures so that more foreigners will be willing to live in Korea.

As a former medical professional, are you pursuing anything else in the city?

I am pushing to outsource the city's Seongnam Citizens Medical Center as it has been unable to play its proper role in protecting people's lives and health. Of the 509 hospital beds at the center, only about 20 percent are operating. The annual deficit amounts to 50 billion won while we have spent some 300 billion won to build the center. So I have been pushing a plan to let university hospitals operate the city's medical center and have applied to the Ministry of Health and Welfare to change the operator.

A drone delivers food at a drone-delivery stop in Bundang District, Seongnam, on July 31. Seongam was the first city to launch such a service. [NEWS1]

Lately, you have stressed the need to improve the city’s budgeting. What changes have you made to next year’s budget?

For next year, I focused on allocating the budget for necessary fields. For instance, the city government has been paying 10 billion won annually for Gyeonggi’s Youth Basic Income project, which doles out a million won to every 24-year-old resident. But the ordinance for the project was abolished in June, and we are not planning to spend this money in 2024. Instead, we have started a so-called All-Pass project, which offers subsidies of up to a million won for jobless youth from 19 to 34 to pay for classes and tests they need to get a job. During previous mayors’ terms, the city’s budget was wasted on many wrongful occasions, where I have taken a lesson in investing the city’s capital in projects that would help residents the most. We are also on a tight budget as the city's tax revenue is anticipated to drop by 350 billion won next year.

Seongnam is also known for Pangyo Techno Valley, often called the Silicon Valley of Korea. The second Techno Valley is almost ready, and the third Techno Valley is also on its way to being constructed. What is the city’s focus on fostering the growth of the latest technologies, including AI and autonomous driving?

When I first became mayor in July last year, I made “becoming a leader specializing in the fourth industrial revolution” the catchphrase of our city. We recently signed an agreement to create a system semiconductor cluster in Pangyo with eight other institutes, including KAIST and Sungkyunkwan University. We also plan to apply to create an innopolis [innovative city] foundation for research and development of materials, equipment and devices in the city’s unused land upon approval. The city is also focusing on future mobility, such as urban air mobility (UAM), and is the first city to launch a drone delivery service in August. Some 25 companies in the city are expected to participate in Seongnam's booth at CES 2024.

A self-driving bus goes on pilot operation around Pangyo Techno Valley in Seongnam on July 17. [YONHAP]

Seongnam has emerged as the major transport hub in southern Gyeonggi, with the Great Train Express Line A, or GTX-A, set to open next year and the Wolgot-Pangyo Line under construction. What is the city’s road map for developing such transportation networks?

As the GTX-A is set to open early next year, the city is promoting plans to construct a transfer terminal. The Wolgot-Pangyo Line, which connects Sieheung to Pangyo and places as far away as Gangneung, Gangwon, will include a new West Pangyo Station. We are also discussing with the provincial government of Gyeonggi the city’s anticipated tram line and extending subway line No. 8 to Pangyo.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]