Nonmarital births a solution to low birthrate, vice minister says to public outrage

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Nonmarital births a solution to low birthrate, vice minister says to public outrage

Published: 09 May. 2025, 18:15 Updated: 09 May. 2025, 19:04

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

A nurse holds a newborn baby at MizMedi Hospital in Gangseo District, western Seoul. [JOONGANG ILBO]

One might not expect to hear a high-ranking government official advocating for giving birth to children out of wedlock as a solution to low birthrates. The idea struck an even more uncomfortable chord with many Koreans, who tend to value traditional family structures more conservatively than their U.S. or European peers, when they came across the remarks from First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Ki-il.

“I believe that nonmarital births should become more common in our country so that more young people will have kids," Lee said during an interview with YTN Radio on Thursday.

"We will come up with more policies to support those who choose to have and raise children, regardless of their marital status,” he continued. “The low birthrate issue is not only a concern for the ministry but for the government and the nation as a whole.”

The comments instantly went viral online, sparking a comment war among netizens.

On Korea’s largest news portal Naver, an article about the remarks received over 2,000 comments, most of which were critical.

“Once again, politicians are coming up with silly ideas to waste our money,” one comment read. “They should focus on encouraging marriage and childbirth within two-parent households.”

Other commenters questioned why such systems were needed, pointing out that having a child out of wedlock is already “a matter of personal choice, not something that requires government intervention.”

The out-of-wedlock birthrate in Korea stood at 3.9 percent in 2022, far below the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development's (OECD) average of 41 percent, according to data from the Health Ministry.

In stark contrast, France had the rate of 65.2 percent, the highest among the OECD members, followed by Sweden at 57.8 percent, Britain at 51.4 percent and the United States at 39.8 percent. These higher rates are largely attributable to cultural norms in which a significant proportion of nonmarital births occur within cohabiting or common-law partnerships.

A recent example highlighting Koreans' conservative sentiment toward children born out of wedlock involved actor Jung Woo-sung.

Actor Jung Woo-sung attends the 45th Blue Dragon Film Awards held at the KBS Hall in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Nov. 29, 2024. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Jung came under fire last year over reports that he was the biological father of a child born to model Moon Gabi, to whom he is not married. Jung apologized for the issue during his appearance at the Blue Dragon Film Awards on Nov. 29.

This isn’t the first time half-baked birthrate-related policies have been met with backlash.

Last year, a publication from the Korea Institute of Public Finance, a state-funded research institute, proposed letting female students enter school one year early to boost fertility rates, prompting backlash for being outdated and coercive.

Chang Woo-hyun, the senior researcher who authored the report, claimed that early school enrollment for girls could help align the timing of romantic interest and increase the chances of childbirth later on.

However, the institute clarified that it was merely a personal opinion, not an official stance.

First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Ki-il speaks at a conference held at the Ministry of Health and Welfare's conference hall in Sejong on April 7. [YONHAP]

Not all reactions to Vice Minister Lee’s remarks were negative. Some commenters defended his idea as a “realistic alternative,” with one writing, “If there’s institutional support, many women would probably be willing to have children without getting married.”

Some argued that Korea needs to accept a wider range of family structures and follow in the footsteps of European nations that have successfully improved birthrates this way, pointing out that Korea must address its critically low birthrate.

According to the 2024 data from the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency's World Factbook, Korea had the third-lowest birth rate in the world last year, with just 5.62 births per 1,000 people. Only the city-states of Vatican City and Hong Kong ranked lower.

“If it helps with our critically low birthrate, we must do whatever we can,” read one comment.

“Many European countries with high rates of nonmarital births have seen this positively affect their birthrates.”

BY YOON SEUNG-JIN [[email protected]]