■ Young people are leaving Ulsan Ulsan is destined to give up its metropolitan city title. This is because its population is decreasing. It was promoted to a metropolitan city in 1997 when its population surpassed 1 million. It peaked in 2015 (1.17 million). Since then, it has been on a downward slope. As of 2023, the population is 1.1 million, a decrease of 70,000 from the peak. According to population projections, it will reach 970,000 by 2040. It may no longer be a metropolitan city. This is because young people are leaving. The exodus of young people (15-34 years old) began in 2015 when the population peaked. There was a time when more than 7,000 people left in one year. In that time, 48,000 people left. 70% of the total population decrease is due to youth exodus. This is called an 'escape from Ulsan.' Ulsan, a wealthy city with automobiles, shipbuilding, and chemical industries, what is happening in Ulsan, the city with the largest GRDP (gross regional product)? ■ A city without regular jobs, where women cannot realize their dreams There is no longer a success story of middle-class production workers in Ulsan. Hyundai Motors and Hyundai Heavy Industries, the two leading companies in Ulsan, are no longer hiring regular production workers. Only contract workers and subcontracted workers are increasing. Research and development jobs are also being sucked into the metropolitan area. Major conglomerates' factories will remain in Ulsan, but high value-added sectors such as research and development and global business sectors will leave Ulsan. Experts predict that Ulsan will become a 'production base'. Above all, Ulsan has failed to create a city where women can become independent. An industrial city that has not changed is unable to provide jobs to women who want to choose their own lives. The percentage of women in their 20s, which was 50% in 1997, has fallen to 43% in 2023. Young people cannot stay in Ulsan like that. That is why they are escaping Ulsan. ■ This is a city that cannot reproduce the problems of the entire Republic of Korea. At first, only the gloomy future of the region called Ulsan will be visible. However, if you look deeper, you will see the enormous gravity of regional extinction that even the 'industrial capital' Ulsan cannot endure. Young people head to the metropolitan area in search of jobs. They postpone marriage and childbirth because of the competition. No children are born. The vicious cycle repeats. Demographers say that 'the movement of regional youth to the metropolitan area' is the most fundamental reason for the low birth rate. Economists say that the low birth rate is swallowing up the future of the Republic of Korea. In other words, regional extinction and low birth rate are intertwined and circulating. The concentration of the metropolitan area sucks in young people, sucks in regions, and sucks in the future of the Republic of Korea. What we must see in [Escape from Ulsan] is precisely this enormous cycle. If we do not stop the 'Escape from Ulsan', the first button of this cycle, there is no future for the Republic of Korea. #Ulsan #youth #low birth rate #women #heavy industry #Hyundai #automobiles #shipbuilding #chemicals #region #crisis #regional extinction #future #population #metropolitan area Scheduled broadcast date: Tuesday, May 21, 2024 KBS 1TV, 22:00 [Current Affairs Planning Window] Escape from Ulsan – A city that has lost its youth Reporter: Seo Young-min Camera: Lim Hyeon-sik Video editing: Lee Jong-hwan Data research: Jeong Yi-seo Assistant director: Jin Eui-seon 'Current Affairs Planning Window' homepage https://news.kbs.co.kr/vod/program.do... YouTube / @kbssisa Facebook / changkbs WAVVE Search for 'Current Affairs Planning Window'