South Korea’s (SK) Jindo County Governor Kim Hee-soo came under fire after saying that “foreign young women from Sri Lanka or Vietnam should be imported” as a response to the issue of population decline.

The remarks were made on Wednesday afternoon (4) at the Haenam Culture and Arts Centre in South Jeolla during a Town hall meeting on the proposed administrative integration of Gwangju and South Jeolla, which targeted nine Local Governments in the western part of the Province. Hee-soo, who attended the event as an audience member, raised a question to the City and Provincial leaders.

“Out of the 89 regions at risk of population extinction nationwide, 20 per cent are in South Jeolla,” Hee-soo said. “We should resolve the extinction crisis under the pretext of integration.” “The population cliff must have been foreseeable since the 2000s, the Government, academics and even those who served as National Assembly Members did nothing,” Hee-soo continued. “Given the dire circumstances of cities and counties, it is impossible to come up with self-help measures.” “When Gwangju and South Jeolla integrate, let’s legislate measures for population extinction as well,” Hee-soo went on. “If it comes down to it, we should import young women from places like Sri Lanka or Vietnam so that rural bachelors can get married, and come up with special countermeasures. What is the point of reviving the industry when there are no people?”

“The remarks about foreign marriages and importing people seem inappropriate,” Gwangju Mayor Kang Gi-jung said.

While the remarks were intended to raise concerns that integration centred on industrial development alone would not solve the decline in rural and fishing village populations, criticism followed over describing foreigners as objects to be “imported” and for singling out specific countries.

“The desperation over the rural population cliff may have come out in rough language,” an attendee said. “Even so, the level of expression went too far and lacked consideration for multicultural communities, human rights and gender sensitivity.” “The remarks plainly revealed a perspective that views foreigners only as labour or marriage partners,” another attendee said. “Greater care should have been taken with the language, as this was a public forum to discuss the region’s future.”

The Town hall meeting was held as part of western South Jeolla’s discussions on the proposed Gwangju–South Jeolla administrative integration.

Korea JoongAng Daily