Photo: video screenshot/Independent News
A lucky couple who gave birth to quintuplets in South Korea have been given 170m won (US$129,000) in childbirth grants, the country’s first natural quintuplet birth, according to the Straits Times news outlet.
It is good news for the East Asia country that is battling with the world’s lowest fertility rate.
The couple, Kim Joon-yeong and Sagong Hye-ran from Gyeonggi province gave birth to three boys and two girls on 20 September at the St Mary’s Hospital through a caesarean section delivery.
According to the report, the previous quintuplet births were recorded in 1987 and 2021 where medical fertilisation was used.
Mr Kim, 31, said the couple used to call their unborn children the “PangPang Rangers”, a nickname borrowed from the children’s television show Power Rangers, according to Korea Joongang Daily.
The uncommon birth of the five children in the country drew congratulatory remarks from South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol who called them the “power rangers” and congratulated both parents and the medical staff. He also sent gifts to the couple, which included infant clothes in five colours – red, orange, yellow, green and blue – and naturally grown seaweed, a food that promotes postpartum recovery, the newspaper said.
South Korea is battling a rapidly falling birth rate and has programmes to encourage people to have more children. The fertility rate declined to a historic low of 0.78 in 2022, the lowest globally and well below the replacement rate.
President Yeol has called the rapidly falling birth rate a “national emergency” and announced the creation of a “Ministry of Low Birth Rate Counterplanning”.
The city of Dongducheon, where the family lives, will provide 15m won in cash vouchers, redeemable at any store with annual sales of less than 1bn won. These vouchers are part of the city’s childbirth promotion package, which offers 1m won for the first child, 1.5m won for the second, 2.5m won for the third, and 5m won for the fourth and beyond.
The parents will also receive 3.5 million in postnatal care support.
In addition, they will get a one-time payment of 14m won, called the “first meeting voucher”, along with monthly parental allowance payments totalling 85m won and a children’s allowance of 47.5m won, both spread over time.
South Korea’s demographic crisis is blamed on several factors, but frustration with the rising cost of living and declining quality of life is considered to be the primary reason.
韓國五胞胎夫婦獲得近13萬美元的生育補助金
根據《海峽時報》新聞媒體報道，一對在韓國生下五胞胎的幸運夫婦獲得了 1.7 億韓元（129,000 美元）的生育補助金，這是該國首例自然出生的五胞胎。
對於這個正在與世界最低生育率作鬥爭的東亞國家來說，這是一個好消息。
來自京畿道的金俊英和司空惠蘭夫婦於9月20日在聖瑪麗醫院剖腹產下三男兩女。
報道稱，先前的五胞胎出生記錄是在1987年和2021年，當時是使用藥物受精的。
據《韓國中央日報》報道，31 歲的金先生表示，這對夫婦過去常常稱他們未出生的孩子為“PangPang Rangers”，這是從兒童電視節目《電力別動隊》中藉用的綽號。
這五個孩子在該國的不同尋常的誕生引起了韓國總統尹錫烈的祝賀，他稱他們為“電力別動隊”，並向父母和醫務人員表示祝賀。 該報稱，他還向這對夫婦贈送了禮物，其中包括紅、橙、黃、綠、藍五種顏色的嬰兒衣服，以及天然生長的海藻，這是一種促進產後恢復的食物。
韓國正在應對出生率迅速下降的問題，並制定了鼓勵人們生育更多孩子的計畫。
2022 年，生育率降至 0.78 的歷史低點，為全球最低水平，遠低於更替率。
烈總統將出生率迅速下降稱為“國家緊急狀態”，並宣布成立“低出生率對策部”。
一家人居住的東豆川市將提供1500萬韓元的現金券，可在任何年銷售額低於10億韓元的商店兌換。 這些代金券是該市生育促銷計劃的一部分，為第一個孩子提供 100 萬韓元，第二個孩子為 150 萬韓元，第三個孩子為 250 萬韓元，第四個及以上為 500 萬韓元。
父母還將獲得350萬韓元的產後護理支援。
此外，他們還將獲得一次性支付的1400萬韓元（稱為「第一次見面券」），以及每月總計8500萬韓元的父母津貼和4750萬韓元的兒童津貼，兩者都隨著時間的推移而支付。
韓國的人口危機被歸咎於多種因素，但對生活成本上升和生活品質下降的沮喪被認為是主要原因。
Source: Independent News
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