[News Today] MARRIAGE AND BIRTH RATES UP

[LEAD]
We've been highlighting statistics for marriages and births, often hitting 'all-time lows,' in South Korea. The figures have finally rebounded. In May, marriages surged over 20% year-on-year. Newborn counts also rose for the second consecutive month.


[REPORT]
Kim Hwi-cheol got married in May with his girlfriend of sixteen years. He decided to hold a spring wedding which was delayed by the pandemic.

Kim Hwi-cheol/ Married in May
We decided to postpone our wedding after the pandemic. We began planing a year ago and wanted to get married when the weather was perfect.

The number of marriages in May was up by 21.6% from a year ago. The rate of increase has been above 20% for two months in a row.

Statistics Korea believes that the number of marriages, which had plunged during the pandemic, is rebounding to the previous level.

Also, the number of births in May increased 2.7% compared to a year ago. The upward trend has been maintained for two months since April.

For the first time since 2015, the year-on-year number of newborns rose for two months straight.

Post-pandemic, weddings were concentrated between August 2022 and the first half of last year, which appears to have led to this year's surprise gain in the number of births.

Lim Yeong-il/ Statistics Korea
There may be declines in some months this year, but more months will show an increase. But we'll have to wait and see if this trend will continue.

Was the government's recent support programs for marriages and childbirths producing results?

Cho Sung-ho/ Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs
Marriage or birth figures wouldn't change right away just because the govt offers something. The measures would produce results in time.

Despite these increases, however, the number of births still remains fewer than 20,000 a month.

The country's natural population decline has continued for 55 months straight as the deaths have been outnumbering the births.