edaily strategy forum

Does the name Thomas Malthus sound familiar? Best known for his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus is a British economist who argued that populations inevitably expand until they outgrow their available resources, resulting in the end of the world. The 1960s proved him right, with global population growing exponentially and peaking at a 2.1% rate. This is in fact when population control was introduced.

Fast forward 60 years, and population collapse is a serious concern all over the world, getting to the point where doubts are raised as to the correctness of Malthus. In particular, Korea reported the world¡¯s lowest total fertility rate of 0.78, indicating that the country¡¯s population might be the first to disappear.

Population decline will inevitably lead to school closures, less working age population, which will push the Korean economy into a low-growth trap. In fact, the survival of regions and companies may be at stake. Whereas increasing numbers of individuals will become eligible for pension benefits, no contributions will be made. This will eventually exhaust the fund, leaving the country no choice but to take painful actions.

Of course, this does not mean that we should blame the young adults and pin our hopes on their fertility rate. This challenge can only be tackled when efforts of the government and private companies along with individuals are organically combined.

This Year, Under the theme of ¡®Beyond the Demographic Cliff to a Sustainable Future,¡¯ EDAILY Strategy Forum - Korea's leading knowledge sharing conference - will take a close look into the topic of population. The forum will also serve as a platform to discuss and diagnose the top agenda items of the Yoon administration including education, labor, pension, extinction of provinces, and the labor shortage in the private sector, and to provide time to build a future readiness for the great transformation.