The country with the lowest birth rate awarded medals to two women who each had 13 children

South Korea’s Ministry of Health and Welfare has awarded community service medals to two women for giving birth to 13 children each, as the country struggles with a plummeting birth rate.

Eom Gye-suk, 60, was awarded the Seongnyu Medal, the fifth class of the Order of Civic Merit given to people who contribute to the country through outstanding achievements in politics, business, society, education or science.

Lee Yeong-mi, 59, received the Civil Merit Medal, which is awarded to people who contribute through achievements and donations, people who risk their lives to save others and people who dedicate their lives to public service .

Ms Eom had five sons and eight daughters between 1986 and 2007.

Ms. Lee had her first child at 23 and the last at 44.

“After being pregnant and giving birth on and off for over 20 years, there have been some difficulties, but thanks to my children who grew up well, I think I have more happy moments than others,” Ms Eom said at the awards ceremony at the Glad Hotel in Seoul on October 10th.

“Compared to the 1980s and 2000s, when I gave birth and raised my children, there are many policies supporting childbirth and child-rearing. But when I hear from the people around me, there are still many shortcomings,” Ms. Lee was quoted as saying by the Korea Herald.

“We urgently need a working culture where people can use childcare leave without worrying about what others think, and support for self-employed people who don’t have childcare leave and can’t take time off work.”

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In May this year, President Yoon Suk-yeol announced that South Korea would set up a ministry to combat the country’s declining birth rate, calling it a “national emergency.”

The East Asian country is struggling with a rapidly declining birth rate and has programs in place to encourage people to have more children. The birth rate fell to a historic low of 0.78 in 2022, the lowest in the world and well below the replacement rate.

South Korea’s demographic crisis is attributed to a number of factors, not least frustration with the rising cost of living, declining quality of life and a patriarchal society.

The country’s women have cited the heavy emotional and physical toll of raising a child largely alone, the lost career opportunities and the financial costs, sparking the first such trend to impact a national demographic worldwide.

South Korean couples receive financial support from the government ranging from 35 million won (£20,566) to 50 million won (£29,380) through various incentive and support programs from the time their child is born until the age of seven.

In September, a couple received birth grants worth 170 million won (£95,757) after giving birth to quintuplets.