A few days ago, a news item reported by CCTV Financial Magazine attracted everyone's attention. According to the news, South Korea imported more than 10 tons of chili sauce from China last year, and this figure also set a record high.
As soon as this news came out, everyone said that it shouldn't be.
South Korea's kimchi is the most famous, and it stands to reason that most of their chili sauce should be made from their own country, so why do they import it from the mainland?
According to CCTV Finance and Economics, the real reason behind South Korea's large number of imports of chili powder and chili sauce from the mainland is that South Korea's aging population is too serious, resulting in a plummeting of South Korea's chili planting area, and the decline has reached the highest level in history since 1975.
In addition, the downward trend of pepper planting area will continue, and it is expected that South Korea's pepper production will decrease by 10% year-on-year this year, hitting a record low in three years.
These new historical records related to chili pepper production all reveal a big social phenomenon from a small level: that is, the aging problem in South Korea is really serious.
Next, let's walk into this article together to explore the mystery behind the import of Korean chili sauce.
South Korea's record import of Chinese chili sauce, what does it mean?
Some people may say that South Korea needs more than ten tons of chili sauce from China a year, will it be an exaggeration, after all, South Korea's population is not very large, only 5.1 million, how can it import ten tons of hot sauce from China a year?
In fact, the demand for hot sauce in South Korea is high, mainly because there is really nothing else to eat in that part of Korea, vegetables are expensive to death, fruits are expensive to death, except for the price of meat.
But you can't always eat meat every day, don't eat vegetables, so since you can't afford to eat fresh vegetables, you can only marinate a few pots of kimchi in every house, and when you eat every day, you can have no vegetables and no meat, but you can't do without kimchi. It can be said that kimchi is the belief of Koreans.
However, as South Korea's aging population increases, the farmers who used to grow chili peppers are getting older, so there are not many chili peppers to grow, and the price of labor costs has also risen.
Eventually, the planting area of Korean peppers has decreased, and the price of peppers has generally risen, compared with the peppers imported from the mainland, the price of Korean peppers is at least three or four times more expensive than the peppers in our country.
The price is expensive, and the quality of chili peppers is not as good as in our country, so South Korea's local chili peppers naturally can't be sold.
The incident of South Korea's chili imports can almost be seen as a microcosm of South Korea's industry in all aspects. At present, in South Korea, not only the price of local chili peppers is ridiculously expensive, but even the price of their local cabbage is also surprisingly expensive.
Whether it is fruits and vegetables, or seasoning products, after South Korea enters the aging and declining birthrate, South Korea's local labor has become more and more precious, and the rise in labor costs will inevitably lead to an increase in product prices, and ultimately only consumers at the end of the consumer will be affected.
Judging from the fact that South Korea imports a large number of peppers from the mainland every year, the aging phenomenon in South Korea at this stage has seriously affected all aspects of the Korean industry, especially in the planting industry.
How serious is South Korea's aging population and low fertility rate?
Looking at the big from the small, how serious is the aging of South Korea?
More than a decade ago, David Kerman, a demographer at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, warned that South Korea could become the first country in the world to disappear. But it is clear that this prophecy did not attract attention at the time.
But as time went on, it became clear that David's prophecy was true, and that the real life in Korea was far more serious than we thought.
According to the 2022 population data released by South Korea, South Korea's fertility rate has dropped to a record low of 0.78, ranking first from the bottom among major countries.
And it is worth mentioning that South Korea's fertility rate has been below 1 for five consecutive years.
A piece of trivia needs to be inserted here, that is, when a country's total fertility rate reaches more than 2.1, the replacement level can be guaranteed.
In other words, taking into account risk factors such as premature death, a couple has to have an average of two children to ensure that the total population level does not decline and the aging of the country does not become too serious.
However, it is clear that the current South Korea has not reached this level, not only are there no young people in the society, but also at the social level in South Korea, everyone is generally misogynistic about children, and some shops even prohibit babies from entering the store, on the grounds that "it is too noisy and affects business".
In such a social atmosphere, everyone generally does not give birth, and the babies in the stroller are replaced by various pet dogs.
China's fertility rate is also declining today, will it follow in South Korea's footsteps?
After seeing South Korea's fertility rate, some people will compare the mainland's fertility rate with South Korea's, and worry that after the mainland's fertility rate declines year by year, will it also follow South Korea's footsteps in the future?
The answer to this question, I think, is unlikely.
Behind any social phenomenon, it is certainly the economic factor that plays a decisive role. The main reason why South Korea ranks last in terms of fertility rate is that the country's economic pressure is too great.
While South Korea's economic growth is slowing down, many young people can't find the job they want, and their investment in education for many years cannot be linked to their own salary level, coupled with the high level of housing prices, many people can't buy a house after working hard for a lifetime.
In addition, South Korea, as a small country, has a higher population density than China, which has 1.4 billion, and in contrast, the competition pressure on young Koreans is greater and more intense.
Combined with South Korea's economic situation, for young people in South Korea, not marrying and having children is the best choice to make their lives more comfortable, although the South Korean government has introduced various policies to encourage people to have more children, but the embarrassment of no money and no housing is something that the South Korean government has never been able to solve.
Compared with China, the mainland has a large population base, even if some young people choose not to marry and have children, the rest will still choose to have children, and if you don't have children, there will always be someone else, because the aging phenomenon in China will not be as serious as that of Japan and South Korea.
In addition, China has a large land and abundant resources, unlike Japan and South Korea, and many people can still run to small counties and spend a stable life even if they feel that the competition pressure in big cities is high.
No matter how poor it is, you can find a rural land and live a self-sufficient pastoral life.
To sum up, although the phenomenon of aging and the low fertility rate of the mainland at this stage have gradually emerged, after all, China is a superpower with a population of 1.4 billion, and no matter what happens, it will not follow in the footsteps of South Korea.