Outrage in South Korea over ‘importing virgins’ proposal to raise birth rate
Critics slammed a governor’s ‘crude’ suggestion to marry ‘Sri Lankan and Vietnamese virgins’ to local men as a fix for population decline
Jindo county Governor Kim Hee-soo made the suggestion during a town hall meeting in South Jeolla to discuss an administrative merger of nine cities and counties in the province with Gwangju Metropolitan City.
“Of the 89 regions facing declining populations nationwide, 20 per cent are in South Jeolla province. We need to solve this extinction crisis,” he said, as reported by the Maeil Business Newspaper. “The population cliff was predicted in the 2000s, but the government has been complacent. We cannot help ourselves due to the poor circumstances of the city and county.”
The merger should not only focus on industrial development but also address the population decline, he said. “If there are no people, what’s the point of saving the industry?
“We should impose special measures such as importing Sri Lankan and Vietnamese virgins and marrying them to rural bachelors,” he added.
Kim’s remarks raised an outcry not only among the over 100 attendees, but also nationwide as the meeting was being broadcast live, according to local news agency Newsis.
Gwangju Mayor Kang Ki-jung immediately raised his objections. “There may be many solutions, but foreigners, marriage and income are the wrong ones,” he said. “Only when there is industry in the region will the birth rate and population increase. We need to grow the industry first.”