Postponed Twice but Ultimately Attended by Deputy Minister... Deflated National Assembly Population Special Committee

There are evaluations that the National Assembly's Special Committee on the Population Crisis has become ineffective amid the indifference of central government ministries. Although the ruling and opposition parties held the somewhat delayed first meeting last month on the 31st, four months after agreeing on the committee's formation, the second meeting, which was postponed twice to encourage ministerial attendance, was ultimately replaced by vice minister attendance, raising doubts about whether effective discussions can take place in the future.

According to the National Assembly Population Special Committee on the 25th, five ministries scheduled to attend on the 26th are the Ministry of Economy and Finance, Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Justice, and Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism. All ministries except the Ministry of National Defense notified that vice ministers would attend.

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President Yoon Suk-yeol emphasized the importance of population issues by personally presiding over the Low Fertility and Aging Society Committee meeting for the first time in seven years as a sitting president, but the ministries are showing a lukewarm attitude. The Ministry of Economy and Finance reported that First Vice Minister Bang Gi-seon would attend instead of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister Choo Kyung-ho. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport decided that Second Vice Minister Uh Myung-so would participate instead of Minister Won Hee-ryong; the Ministry of Justice, Vice Minister Ino Gong; and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, First Vice Minister Jeon Byung-geuk. The Ministry of National Defense was the only one to announce that Minister Lee Jong-seop would attend.

When the business report originally scheduled for the 29th of last month was postponed once to the 6th, the reason was the complete absence of ministers from the ministries. Prior to that, the Population Special Committee meetings involving the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and Ministry of Employment and Labor saw full ministerial attendance.

In the case of high-level meetings, ministers generally do not attend, and vice ministers or officials attend instead, leading to criticism that the meetings lack effectiveness, raising the possibility that the Population Special Committee may not fulfill its role. An opposition party member of the special committee said, "Seeing these delays, it seems ministers do not want to come," adding, "It seems they think they are too busy to attend the Population Special Committee."

The written report materials distributed in advance to the special committee members also came under scrutiny. In particular, the Ministry of Economy and Finance's report was in the form of a summary of other ministries' projects, receiving criticism from several members for being inadequate.

Given this situation, there is also talk about the futility of operating the special committee itself. Because the National Assembly holds sessions every month without break, it is realistically difficult to coordinate the schedules of more than 20 special committee members’ standing committee duties along with the ministers’ schedules. A ruling party official said, "The chairman’s office is also facing practical difficulties in arranging attendance," adding, "Each ministry recognizes that the low fertility problem is serious, but various unexpected situations arise in each ministry, making it difficult to focus on this issue."

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