Introduction: End of Life Issues in China and Korea

Abstract

The global village is in a vortex of rapidly changing population structures. Most developed countries are experiencing relatively low fertility among young people and increased longevity among the elderly. These phenomena are seen even in developing countries. A hot issue academically and practically is the higher speed of aging in the countries in the table below. This phenomenon is clear in a comparison of aging rates among European and East Asian countries in <Table 1>. In France it took 130 years to move from an aging society (which means society with over 7% of aged 65+) to an aged society (which means society with over 14%), while it took only 26 years in Japan and 20 years in Korea. Those countries also experienced a much higher speed of aging from an aged society to a super-aged society (which means a society with 20% or more aged 65+). It took 52 years in the UK and 35 years in the USA, while it took 10 years in Japan and 9 years in Korea. China has experienced a much more rapid process of aging in the past two decades, and it will take 10 years for China to move from an aged society to a super-aged society.