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KMID : 0377619970620050431
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Korean Jungang Medical Journal
1997 Volume.62 No. 5 p.431 ~ p.438
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Voluntary Surgical Contraception
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Bai Byoung-Choo
Whang Young-Whan
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Abstract
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The population of South Korea in 1993 is 44, 082, 743 marking the density of 440 persons per square kilometer which represents one of the highest in the world. The rate of population growth has gradually declining in recent years from a high in 1960 of 3 percent to low in 1993 of 0.96 percent due to steady efforts in implementing a successful family planning program. The population goal was set under the assumption that the population replacement level was attained in 1988. The population size will be stable at around 52,574 thousand in 2023 (Table 1).
The total fertility rate also decreased significantly from 6.0 in 1960 to 2.7 in 1980, and reached below replacement level of 2.1 during the mid 1980s. It further decreased to 1.6 in 1993. The gradual decrease in mortality rate had affected the increase of life expectancy from 51.1 years for male and 53.7 years for female at the end of 1950s to 67.4 years for male and 75.4 years for female in 1990, indicationg that the increase were 16.3 years for male and 21.7 years for female during the same period n.
Korea has experienced rapid changes in terms of population growth, composition and distribution during the last 30 years, resulting in the population structure of Korea changing significantly in a short period of time. These changes brought several demographic problems to be solved, that is, rapid decrease of youth population and shortage of labor, rapid increase of the aged population, urbanization, and environmental problems.
The urbanization is characterized by the dominance of Seoul over the life of the country. Nearly 25 percent of the population lives in the capital city which is the center of government, industry, education and culture. Impressive gains in rural development and the designation of industrial estates outside of the capital area, however, have helped to balance the attractiveness of Seoul.
Due to rapid decrease in fertility after 1960, the population under age 14 who will be the source of new labor decreased not only in a relative proportion but also in absolute numbers. The advance rate of young population seeking a higher level of education increased significantly, resulting in the problem of shortage of new input population for the existing labor market. Furthermore, the shortage of labor made it more difficult to solve the problem of current structural adjustment which was caused by rapid industrialization.
The population policy of Korea emphasizes not only the maintenance of the current low level of fertility but also the improvement of quality of population through the development of human resources and through the improvement of public health.
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KEYWORD
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