Introduction

Social policies are usually formulated and developed as measures to solve or prevent social problems. It was at the turn of the 1970s that a set of features associated with ageing began to be perceived as a social problem in Korea. Over the past thirty years since the problem — or challenge — of ageing become perceived as a social issue, there seem to have existed some important factors that have contributed to population ageing as being defined as serious social problem.

The increase in the sheer number and proportion of elderly Koreans has been conspicuous, and twenty-five years into the first of the current century, the increase is expected to be unprecedented. Gigantic social changes, including institutional and structural rearrangements, which have taken place alongside the rapid modernization of Korea over the past thirty years, could not be countered by individuals or families. Families, which have generally been the safety net for older persons, are now challenged, threatened, assaulted and eroded in terms of both structure and function. Social and familial values of filial piety, familism and communalism are apparently withering away, and individualism and an orientation towards the nuclear family are developing and expanding in their place.

Ageing is quite widely regarded as a problem in Korea, one caused by societal factors rather than individual or familial factors. This becoming serious, and it shows in many different ways. A variety of social policies for older persons and their families are needed to tackle the problem. This chapter examines population ageing and provides an overview of national policies on ageing, particularly long-term care needs and policies, in Korea.

Population ageing in Korea

Changes in fertility and mortality rates in a given society are associated with the process of demographic transition often accompanying the change from an agrarian to an industrialized-urbanized state (Kim 1996).