Anchor: With just over a month left before South Korea heads to the ballot box on April 10 to choose who represents the people in the National Assembly, the ruling People Power Party and the main opposition Democratic Party are finalizing their candidate nominations. Both parties have been gearing up for the all-out battle for the last few months, promising to find solutions to the nation’s low birthrate, aging society and work-life balance. 
Our Max Lee takes a closer look at the key policy pledges of the two parties.

Report: With the April 10 general elections now a little more than a month away, rival parties are unveiling key campaign pledges related to Korea’s low birth rate, aging society and the work-life balance of workers.

On January 18, both the ruling People Power Party(PPP) and the main opposition Democratic Party(DP) announced their respective policies aimed at tackling the country's low birth rate, promising to strengthen work-life balance through childcare leave and establishing a separate ministry dedicated to solving the low-birth rate issue.

In its first pledge, the PPP announced its policy aimed at improving the work-life balance of parents, pushing for a mandatory one-month paid maternal and paternal leave and increasing the upper limit of childcare leave benefits from one-point-five million won to two-point-one million won.

The DP, on the other hand, pledged to provide public housing based on the number of children in the household, while also providing a 100 million won loan with a ten-year maturity for newlyweds. 

Both parties also pledged to expand childcare services in response to the increase in the number of dual-income spouses.

Meanwhile, the two parties announced pledges to change above-ground railway lines in large cities to underground routes, to solve noise and dust pollution issues as well as chronic traffic congestion, and to revitalize the city center by building large-scale landmarks.

Come April 10, it will be up to the voters to decide, after they consider the long list of pledges made by the rival parties.
Max Lee, KBS World Radio News.