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flakfizer

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: scaling the Cliffs of Insanity with a frayed rope.
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Posted: Tue May 09, 2006 11:22 pm Post subject: |
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Ironically, Korea has a very high abortion rate and it's still technically illegal, I believe. I've seen some stats on the Net (perhaps "estimates" is a better term) that Koreans abort one to one and a half million babies each year. Of course, the fact that Koreans are still mostly unwilling to adopt doesn't help. Koreans are conceiving plenty of babies to maintain the population, but too many are "unwanted" and aborted. And many of the unwanted babies that do make it to term are exported.
Last edited by flakfizer on Wed May 10, 2006 7:19 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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rapier
Joined: 16 Feb 2003
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 1:45 am Post subject: |
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flakfizer wrote: |
Koreans abort one to one and a half babies each year. |
per family? per woman?
korea's value systems have not kept pace with their rate of development, and they are being forced to face their demons now.
Self realisation is the focus of the westerner.
Koreans still see their ultimate goal as making babies and being married. |
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desultude

Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Location: Dangling my toes in the Persian Gulf
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 3:11 am Post subject: |
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rapier wrote: |
flakfizer wrote: |
Koreans abort one to one and a half babies each year. |
per family? per woman?
korea's value systems have not kept pace with their rate of development, and they are being forced to face their demons now.
Self realisation is the focus of the westerner.
Koreans still see their ultimate goal as making babies and being married. |
I disagree. I have spoken with a lot of adult Korean women, as well as university students, and they are not at all convinced of either marriage or children. The men are, almost to a one.
The women feel the pressure and the requirement of marriage to please their families, but they don't necessarily want it.
And you would be surprised how many of my female university students are in a hurry to leave Korea for exactly precisely this reason.
Last edited by desultude on Wed May 10, 2006 4:59 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Moldy Rutabaga

Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 4:32 am Post subject: |
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I have spoke with a lot of adult Korean women, as well as university students, and they are not at all convinced of either marriage or children. The men are, almost to a one.
The women feel the pressure and the requirement of marriage to please their families, but they don't necessarily want it. |
Yes, my experiences are identical teaching adults. The men seem to tease the single women as a sort of power play--of course a woman is no good without a husband!-- and the women say nothing, but they go on being single. And some of the ajummas envy them silently..
Ken:> |
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shortskirt_longjacket

Joined: 06 Jun 2004 Location: fitz and ernie are my raison d'etre
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 6:00 am Post subject: |
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So...predictions? What will happen? Will the birth rate pick up? Will it keep declining? What will Korea be like in 30-40 years if it stays at 1.08 (or wherever it is now)? |
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flakfizer

Joined: 12 Nov 2004 Location: scaling the Cliffs of Insanity with a frayed rope.
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 7:19 pm Post subject: |
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rapier wrote: |
flakfizer wrote: |
Koreans abort one to one and a half babies each year. |
per family? per woman?
korea's value systems have not kept pace with their rate of development, and they are being forced to face their demons now.
Self realisation is the focus of the westerner.
Koreans still see their ultimate goal as making babies and being married. |
oops. That should have read, "one to one and a half million babies per year." |
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manlyboy

Joined: 01 Aug 2004 Location: Darwin, Northern Territory, Australia
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 7:52 pm Post subject: |
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1.3 births per woman is what demographers call a "lowest-low" fertility rate. It's basically the tipping point at which a nation is so far down the death spiral that it can't pull out. At 1.08, Korea is in for a very rude awakening very soon, and there's nothing the Ministry of Health can do to stop it.
Unless the Norks come in and take over, Korea will be forced to bring in large numbers of immigrants to sustain the economy, or otherwise lose their comfortable and convenient lifestyles. These immigrants will most likely be from third world countries, and once here, will more than likely continue to breed at high third world levels. Their birth rates will outstrip the locals in no time. In 50 years there will still be a place called Korea, but the people living here will not be Koreans as we know them today. The "pure bloods" will be a minority.
This is currently happening in Europe as well, where they have 17 countries either at or below the 1.3 mark. |
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mindmetoo
Joined: 02 Feb 2004
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 9:06 pm Post subject: |
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manlyboy wrote: |
Unless the Norks come in and take over, Korea will be forced to bring in large numbers of immigrants to sustain the economy, or otherwise lose their comfortable and convenient lifestyles. |
I've always said that's going to drive unification, especially when you've got a couple generations where males out number females because Koreans aborted their female babies. Where to get a source of pleasing, demure genetically pure Korean women? North! |
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Moldy Rutabaga

Joined: 01 Jul 2003 Location: Ansan, Korea
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 9:56 pm Post subject: |
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I've always said that's going to drive unification, especially when you've got a couple generations where males out number females because Koreans aborted their female babies. Where to get a source of pleasing, demure genetically pure Korean women? North! |
Quite possibly it will be a factor. Many of my adult Korean male students have a sort of accepted assumption that NK women are renowned for beauty. Unsmiling women wearing shapeless hanboks or plain brown uniforms doesn't do much for me, but the idea seems to be there.
The same demographic problems with too few women is also developing in China, and there may be competition from that quarter too for NK women in the future. But keep in mind too that we don't know what the gender proportions are in NK, and they might not be better.
Ken:> |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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Posted: Wed May 10, 2006 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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Moldy Rutabaga wrote: |
Quote: |
I've always said that's going to drive unification, especially when you've got a couple generations where males out number females because Koreans aborted their female babies. Where to get a source of pleasing, demure genetically pure Korean women? North! |
Quite possibly it will be a factor. Many of my adult Korean male students have a sort of accepted assumption that NK women are renowned for beauty. Unsmiling women wearing shapeless hanboks or plain brown uniforms doesn't do much for me, but the idea seems to be there.
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南男北女 = 남남북여 = Southern Men, Northern Women (are beautiful). |
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