SOUTH KOREA - A ‘Super-Aged’ Society
South Korea has become a “super-aged” society with one in five people aged 65 or older, official data showed, underscoring the country’s deepening demographic crisis.
The number of people aged 65 and older stands at 10.24 million, accounting for 20% of South Korea’s population of 51 million, according to new data released by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety.
The United Nations classifies countries with more than 7% of the population 65 or older as an “aging society,” those with over 14% as an “aged society” and those with more than 20% as a “super-aged” society.
South Korea has been grappling with infamously low birth rates, dropping to just 0.72 in 2023, the world’s lowest, after years of decline.
Countries need a fertility rate of 2.1 to maintain a stable population, in the absence of immigration.
Many European nations also face aging populations, but immigration helps them to mitigate the impact. Countries like South Korea, Japan and China, however, have shied away from mass immigration to tackle the decline in their working age populations.
Experts say the reasons for the demographic shift across Asia include demanding work cultures, stagnating wages, the rising cost of living, changing attitudes toward marriage and gender equality, and rising disillusionment among younger generations.
-www.cnn.com, 24 December 2024
Commentary
A growing problem has arisen among the technologically advanced nations: not enough population growth to “maintain a stable population, in the absence of immigration,” as the article states. The stated reasons include “demanding work cultures, the rising cost of living, changing attitudes toward marriage,” etc. Notice how finances and the emphasis on work as opposed to family are at play. People’s priorities have shifted as they try to maintain a certain living standard, focused on material comfort and personal freedom.
In the parable of the sower, Jesus warned about the dangers of becoming embroiled in earthly pursuits, thereby neglecting the Word: “And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful” (Mark 4:19). The Bible’s guidelines for marriage and family have been replaced by the priorities of the god of this world. -By K. Farmer
Arno Froese is the executive director of Midnight Call Ministries and editor-in-chief of the acclaimed prophetic magazines Midnight Call and News From Israel. He has authored a number of well-received books, and has sponsored many prophecy conferences in the U.S., Canada, and Israel. His extensive travels have contributed to his keen insight into Bible prophecy, as he sees it from an international perspective.
