They're in the death grip of consumerism, it seems. Consumerism is highly correlated with demographic decline. It shifts the perceived "center of gravity" of value toward the materialistic. Having children is sort of a net loss in the materialist calculus. Imagine a family with 5 children that owns a Honda Odyssey and lives in a modest house, and now imagine a family, with the same upper middle class net income, that voluntarily choose to have at most a single child, but lives in a sleeker house and owns a Maserati and a Porsche. Which looks more attractive to someone steeped in consumerism? Which generates more social approval today? Which is going to appeal more to the careerist? Which is going to look more like Success™?

It's obvious. Large families are no longer imagined as a joyful thing, life affirming, a source of meaning, an honor, and the true wealth of a family in the eyes most. No, large families are for poor people who are too stupid to use contraception, an impediment to consuming shit, because everyone knows that consumption is true happiness.

So it sounds like Korea may be trying to overcome occurring or forecasted economic decline resulting from the worst fertility rate in the world and without mass immigration and having their culture threatened as a result. But barring a miracle, they're just buying time before their inevitable collapse. I dare say it is virtually impossible for a society to turn away from the religion of consumption once it has captured and corrupted a society. The only way out seems to be through the inevitable collapse, as that is the only way the spell is broken. This is tragic.