Chairman Kim Jin-pyo: "We Must Manage the Population Cliff as a National Task Through Constitutional Amendment to Gain the People's Trust"

K-Silicon Valley Should Be Established in the Southern Gyeonggi Region
Election Law Must Be Revised to Enforce Redistricting Six Months in Advance

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo proposed that the issue of the population cliff, which has reached the level of a national disaster, should be explicitly stated in the constitution as a long-term national task.

On the 4th, Speaker Kim held a press conference at the National Assembly under the theme "New Year's Proposal from Speaker Kim Jin-pyo for Korea 10 Years from Now," where he made this suggestion.

Regarding the population cliff issue, he said, "The segmented policy implementation under the five-year single-term presidential system is a major cause," and argued, "From now on, the government and political circles should regard the population cliff problem as a serious national crisis and manage it as a long-term agenda." To this end, he asserted, "If measures to address population decline such as childcare, education, and housing are specified as national tasks and decided through a national referendum, it would give the public confidence."

He then proposed innovations in childcare, education, and housing policies to overcome low birth rates. Regarding childcare, he said, "The government must demonstrate wisdom by mobilizing all available institutions and resources from all sectors," and added, "I think it is time to consider utilizing the entire religious community as well."

Speaker of the National Assembly Kim Jin-pyo is holding a New Year's press conference at Sarangjae, the National Assembly, on the 4th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Regarding education, he said, "The Korea Economic Association estimated in an analysis report that the total fertility rate decreases by 0.012 for every 10,000 KRW increase in private education expenses per month," and added, "In 2024, we must attempt a major transformation in public education innovation and continuously pursue policies that reduce dependence on private education even slightly."

Regarding immigration, he also said, "We need to change the existing perceptions and systems concerning overseas Koreans and immigrants," and emphasized, "We must boldly resolve and finalize immigration policies such as allowing dual citizenship for overseas Koreans, establishing an immigration agency, and attracting immigrants, which have been discussed for a long time, as soon as possible." He stressed, "Authorities and the National Assembly must focus their efforts to slow down the rapid progression toward a shrinking society even a little," and added, "It is time to take a progressive approach from the perspective of securing labor."

Additionally, Speaker Kim advocated for establishing an advanced research industrial complex in the southern region of Gyeonggi Province to survive the technological hegemony competition. He said, "Countries around the world are staking their lives on the global technology hegemony competition," and appealed, "The political circles and local governments should actively promote the K-Silicon Valley strategy from a grand perspective that only considers the nation's future to overcome the current national crisis."

Regarding the election system, which has yet to be finalized even three months before the election, he proposed to prevent repeated disruptions in electoral district delimitation by "realistically shortening the deadline for electoral district delimitation from one year before the current election day to six months, setting the election system earlier than that, and legally stipulating that if this is not followed, the election should be held under the currently implemented election system."

He also proposed improving the personnel hearing system. He said, "It is necessary to improve the personnel hearing system by separating the verification of job competency and morality of public office candidates." Regarding constitutional amendment issues, he appealed, "The constitutional amendment procedure law can be prepared during the remaining period of the 21st National Assembly," and added, "Let us create a constitutional amendment procedure law that regulates the process and procedures to solve national tasks and unite the hearts of the people."

Meanwhile, he explained the reason for making several proposals at the New Year's press conference by saying, "My term as Speaker of the National Assembly will end in May, and at the same time, my 20-year political journey will also conclude," and added, "I will make proposals for the future of Korea 10 years from now."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.