Can a child be happy in this world?

I've decided not to have children. I love children, but I can't bear the thought of bringing one into a world where they would have to endure the same relentless struggles I have faced. The pressure, the competition, the exhaustion—it's too much.

- CHUNG CHAN-SEUNG

This was the confession of a female patient, a marketing executive, who had recently married. She had worked diligently after graduating from college, earning recognition in her workplace. Yet, having grown up in an environment of relentless competition—driven by academic pressure, workplace demands and societal expectations—she had struggled with burnout and panic disorder.

Therapy helped her regain stability, and she eventually decided to marry. However, she could not bring herself to have children. She could already foresee the suffocating competition and stress that awaited them. In her dreams, she sometimes sees herself raising a beloved child, but waking up to reality, she feels only guilt and fear at the thought of bringing them into such a harsh world. It is not a lack of maternal instinct but rather an overwhelming love and concern for the child that fuels her apprehension.

In 2025, South Korea's population stands at 51,684,564, according to recent government demographic projections. The total fertility rate in 2024 was 0.75, with only 238,343 births in a year—a slight increase from 0.72 in 2023, yet still the lowest in the world. If this trend continues, South Korea faces inevitable demographic collapse.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, death—particularly suicide—presents an even more alarming crisis. In 2024, an estimated 14,439 people took their own lives, with a suicide rate of 28.3 per 100,000 people. This figure is more than double the OECD average of 10.7. For every 100 children born, more than six lives are lost to suicide among the existing population—an alarming contrast that underscores the severity of South Korea's demographic crisis.