A senior member of the presidential committee says the current speed of South Korea's birth decline and aging trend are "threatening" the very existence of the country's socioeconomic systems.

Speaking at a related forum in Seoul on Wednesday, Seo Hyung-soo, the vice chairperson of the Presidential Committee on Aging Society and Population Policy, then called for a social agreement for understanding and joint resolution to the demographic crisis.

A woman of childbearing age was estimated to have point-98 babies in 2018, which further fell to point-84 in 2020. Last year, 272-thousand babies were born, or 62-point-one percent of babies born five years earlier at 438-thousand.

Meanwhile, Statistics Korea forecasts the country's rate of aging, which stood at 15-point-seven percent last year, to jump to 20-point-three percent by 2025. The ratio between the economically productive population and seniors above 65 years will likely jump from 21-point-seven to 29-point-three percent.

Against this backdrop, the Vice Chair Seo said the country needs to break away from existing welfare policies that revolve around children, women and the elderly. Instead, he called for an independent population promotion system. Noting the aging rate will sharply rise in the next decade, Seo also urged for a long-term. He also said the government needs to raise its budget for family support to the OECD average.

As of 2017, the average family support budget among OECD member states stood at two-point-34 percent of gross domestic product(GDP), compared to South Korea's one-point-three percent.