Foreword (March 2025, Health and Welfare Policy Forum)

Abstract

The National Assembly passed the government budget for this year on December 10 of last year. With an expenditure of 673.3 trillion won, the budget aims to ensure secure livelihoods and facilitate a leap into the future. The first of the four established targets, “better-tomorrow welfare for the socially weak”—the others being “spreading economic vitality,” “reform for the future,” and “making Korea a safe society and a global pivot in diplomacy”—focuses on enhancing welfare support for low-income citizens and socially disadvantaged groups. This initiative includes, among other things, childcare support, education support, and employment assistance for seniors and middle-aged individuals, all intended as policy responses to Korea’s aging population and low birthrate. The budget also prioritizes expanding support for essential health care and local health care, with a view to “making Korea a safe society.” In this month’s Health and Welfare Forum, we examine the budget expenditures allocated to such areas of social policy as “old age,” “children and families,” “youth,” and “employment.” A preamble article provides an account of the structural features of Korea’s social expenditures that distinguish them from those of other OECD countries. I hope that the articles herein will help readers grasp key social policy programs being implemented this year and gain a better understanding of the budget structure, in which Korea’s social expenditures are administered in lockstep with ongoing demographic changes, especially those driven by population aging. I also hope that the present issue of Health and Welfare Forum serves as an occasion for readers to consider what Korea’s social security system should be like in order to respond effectively not only to population aging and low-fertility trends, but also to challenges like climate change, digital transformation, and labor market changes.