The Demographic Transition in the Korean Peninsula,1910-1990: South and North Korea Compared

Abstract

Based on the analysis of the demographic trends in the Korean Peninsula since 1910, this study identifies the five, demographic stages of the transition. Of interest are the questions of why and how South and North Korea have passed through the demographic transition. Key forces behind the fertility trends in South Korea including the urban-industrial expansion, and the family planning program are stressed. In North Korea, the fertility transition has been a product of the government's population control policies rather than the couple's motivation to reduce family size. In this study, the interactions of fertility with mortality and migration are analyzed. It appears that mortality did not playa major role in the decline of fertility, and that, in South Korea, people responded to the population pressure by migrating, delaying marriage, and having abortions, and then, only when these options were exhausted, marital fertility sharply declined.