Population Forum Could Cost 310M Won

According to the “Report on Work Plan and Key Issues,” an internal document of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy that Dong-A Ilbo obtained on Tuesday, the committee is to host a huge international policy forum for three days from September 13 to 15. About 300 people from home and abroad will participate in the event, which will be held at the Sheraton Walkerhill Hotel in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul.

The committee plans to invite several prominent personnel from abroad, including former leaders of other countries, OECD Secretary General, OECD Employment, Labor, and Social Affairs Committee (ELSA) chief commissioner, as well as the UN Population Division chief. In addition, Prime Minister Han Myeong-sook and other high-level government officials and CEOs from home will be participating in the forum.

According to the report, the budget estimated for the event amounts to 310 million won. This is about 7.8 times larger than the money spent on the newly elected North Chungcheong governor’s inaugural ceremony, which aroused controversy in the public because of the huge money spent (40 million won).

Furthermore, 310 million won equals to one month of childcare subsidy for adopted children in 3,100 households and reemployment support for 775 women who delivered babies.

The committee plans to share the budget among the public organizations, including the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Korea National Housing Corporation, National Pension Service, and National Health Insurance Corporation.

In the opening session of the forum, public servants and scholars will present their reports on the theme “The Trend of Aging Society and Success Cases of Foreign Countries.” The themes for the plenary session are: childbirth and family policy, pension policy, health insurance policy, and housing policy.

Hongik University Economics professor Kim Jong-seok said, “In order to improve the quality of the policies, it is more desirable to hold small workshop seminars. Big international events, which mainly aim at stimulating the overall social atmosphere, have to be planned more deliberately since it takes up much of the tax that people paid.”

Due to preparation work for such a big event, some criticize that public servants can easily neglect their main work, such as childbirth promotion and preparing countermeasures for the aging population.

The committee launched an organizing committee consisting of directors from government organizations and officials from public organizations, which will be headed by the Health and Welfare deputy minister.

The organizing committee has to meet every month, and the working-level committee once every two weeks to check on the event preparation.

One month ahead of the forum, the committee will establish a permanent event support taskforce, which will be in charge of field works, such as guest reception, travel guide, and facility maintenance.

To the raised criticism, Goh Deuk-young, manager of the Committee’s Plan Division, said, “The event is designed to foster a social atmosphere (for raising the birthrate) and to exchange experiences with advanced nations.”

legman@donga.com