Choi Sang-mok, acting President and Minister of Economy and Finance, noted on the 11th, "For newlywed couples and households with children, we will relax the income criteria for Jeonse rental so that single-income households can qualify at 130% of the average monthly income of urban workers from the current 100%, and dual-income households from 120% to 200%, allowing more households to benefit."
On the same day, Acting President Choi presided over a "population emergency response meeting" at the Government Seoul Building, where he said, "I will focus more resources on addressing low birth rates to ensure that the momentum of the difficult rebound in birth rates continues."
Acting President Choi emphasized, "Last year's total fertility rate rebounded to 0.75 children, marking the first increase in nine years," adding, "While there are aspects where the delays in marriage and childbirth due to COVID-19 have recovered, the desperate efforts across the public and private sectors and local governments have contributed."
He mentioned, "Our country entered a super-aged society where the population aged 65 and over exceeds 20% of the total population in December last year," and stated, "Aging not only exacerbates the depletion of social insurance finances such as pensions and health insurance, but also poses a risk of weakening our economy's growth potential."
Acting President Choi related to birth rate improvement policies said, "We will eliminate the marriage penalty and enhance life-attached support for pregnant women and families with multiple children," adding, "At the time of departure, not only Incheon Airport but also Jeju, Gimhae, and Gimpo airports will allow families with multiple children to use priority search services. To transform into a society where childbirth and parenting can be done without hesitation, we also plan to revise terms that give negative impressions of marriage, childbirth, and parenting, such as parental leave."
Acting President Choi also noted, "Considering the changed characteristics of the elderly in terms of consumption, the Age-Tech market, which combines advanced technology with products demanded by the elderly, is expected to expand rapidly," and added, "We will actively create new growth opportunities by fostering the Age-Tech market."
He stated, "We will select care robots, wearables, digital medical devices, treatments for geriatric diseases, anti-aging and regenerative medicine, and smart home care as the five key areas for the Age-Tech sector and focus on nurturing them," adding, "We will promote technology investment, including planning a 300 billion won inter-agency Age-Tech flagship project based on AI, bio, and robotics."
He added, "By expanding the scope of advanced regenerative medicine treatment from serious and intractable diseases to geriatric diseases like dementia and cerebrovascular diseases, we will ease regulations on domestic regenerative medicine," and said, "To create initial demand for Age-Tech products in the five key areas, we will expand welfare equipment benefits in long-term care insurance."