The government is seeking to offer incentives to encourage childbirth, the rate of which has been declining over the past decade.

Under the new incentive system, a household would be recognized as having paid one year's worth of its national pension insurance premium if it gives birth to a child.

An official of the Ministry of Welfare and Health said Thursday that the move is aimed at preventing a sharp population decrease by raising the nation's low birthrate.

Under the system, a household that has paid pension insurance for 20 years will not have to pay for one year's worth of insurance if the mother gives birth to a child. If the household mother gives birth to two children, the family will be exempted from two years worth of pension insurance premiums.

The welfare ministry is reportedly consulting with the ruling Uri Party to revise the national pension law in order to introduce the childbirth incentive system.

As of last year, South Korea's childbirth rate stood at the lowest level in the world with 1.19 compared to 2.01 in the United States and Japan's 1.29.