Korea's Planned Parenthood Promoting Births? Why?

I find the methods of population control and planned parenthood in S. Korea and China to be interesting and unconventional. I do not believe that these methods achieve their ultimate goal, and even when they do, the side-effects are more damaging than the ultimate goal.

I feel really ignorant to some many things going on in other countries. I had no idea that Korea was trying to promote births. I think it is going to be hard to convince young working women to start having children. The workforce is going to have to change some of their policies so that the young women won't feel like their children jeopardize their jobs. And how do you decrease the cost of raising a child???
I was also surprised to know that in Korea, there are more abortions than live births. They are really going to have to make great strives to change the thinking of a generation of young women.

I thought your comment was quite insightful. China is trying to dissuade the number of births, but just over in Korea, the government is trying to get families to have more children. I was surprised to hear from Dr. Dube that the number of abortions per year in Korea is higher than the number of live births. Yikes.

I don't think it is an issue of overcrowding in the classroom, but an issue of choice and life style. Koreans take education as a high virtue. They say that the times when the government was deep in IMF woes, they never once thought about cutting education. They will generally cut everything except for education. This is the complete opposite of the US and especially California, where the first cuts is always education. Life in Seoul, Korea is pretty fun and more urban than even LA. Women I know, do not want to be inconvenienced by children or having to raising the "perfect" child. Some are more into their careers, which they don't want to lose by having a child. I don't agree necessarily with this thought, but I also don't live in Korea.

I agree! Some months ago I was bored (don't have cable) and as I scrolled through the channels I think I ran into a soap opera like show. After watching two episodes and reading the subtitles I realized that the female protagonist had to deal with getting older and not having children, but also maintain a good career as a doctor. After reading this article the soap opera makes sense now!... I know cheesy but true!

You got to trust me. I was shocked when I heard it, but it was the reality when I visited Korea two three years ago. My friends in Korea are private tutors for kids who haven't even started school. The parents want to garantee that their child is ahead of other students or not falling behind so they pay major money for this. Especially if you have money, you will spend it to be ahead of the others or just trying to catch up.

You have to understand life in Seoul. Like New York City, the city never sleeps. You can go out at all hours of the day to eat, shop, and get your hair done. Kids, even elementary schoool age typically don't sleep before eleven pm. My friends just told me it is the life style of Korea. Teens who have moved to the US, say that they miss Korea because there are more things to do. Subways, buses and taxis make everything accessible unlike in the US.

It is a place definietly worth visisting.

That really is fascinating. I would love to visit Korea some time just to get a taste of their culture and background. I couldn't imagine living in such a competitive society. I feel like our society is pretty competitive at times, especially when I think about my 14 month old daughter and how I want her to have as many adavantages as possible, but it seems like Korea takes that competitive streak to another level.

Here in California we as teachers are constantly complainig about needing to test our students and hold them "acountable" for their learning, but it sounds like in Korea those tests would be embrassed by both the parents and teachers. It would be amazing to walk into a classroom and see students that are all dedicated and driven to succeed with parents that are willing to back that up. I just cannot imagine it. It is every teachers dream class from what it sounds.

Thank you mchoe for explaining that to me. Now you've planted that seed, and I blame you for my newfound thirst to go visit Seuol! While you're explanation enlightens and clarifies, I now know that I will never begin to really understand unless or until I actually go there! But please continue to educate me because there are so many things am clueless about!