{"id":241956,"date":"2021-03-24T17:32:20","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T22:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=241956"},"modified":"2021-08-26T16:19:39","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T21:19:39","slug":"population-control-south-korea-three-children","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/population-control-south-korea-three-children\/","title":{"rendered":"Due to population control, one South Korean island has just three children remaining"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A Reuters report<\/a> is shining a light on a demographic crisis<\/a> that has struck South Korea, where the death rate is now higher than\u00a0the birth rate. But one island, in particular, highlights the problem in a devastating way.<\/p>\n

On Nokdo island, there are only three<\/em><\/strong> school-aged children left. Ten-year-old Lyoo Chan-hee told Reuters that his best friend is a 66-year-old man named Kim Si-young. \u201cIt would be great if I have more friends here because I can have more options to play,\u201d he said. \u201cHe (Kim) always calls me and shares whenever he is having something delicious.”<\/p>\n

Instead of playing sports with children his own age, Chan-hee plays badminton with Kim. In 2006, the island’s only school closed, because there were so few children left to attend. \u201cI cried so much,” Kim said of the school being shut down. \u201cI want to protect Nokdo but it\u2019s depressing to see fewer and fewer people here.\u201d<\/p>\n