Rapidly aging South Korea prepares to open door for foreign maids

SEOUL -- South Korea approved a Seoul city plan on Friday to let 100 foreign domestic workers into the country through a pilot programme aimed at boosting birth rates by helping more women rejoin the workforce. The issue sits at the confluence of South Korea's sharply declining birthrate, aging population, and its historical reluctance to accept more immigrants. South Korea is in talks with the Philippines as one of the potential sources of workers with an aim to start the pilot programme as early as December, officials said. The new scheme is the latest in a series of efforts by the government to reverse the plunging birth rate of Asia's fourth-largest economy. "There is no one-size-fits-all solution to low birth rate," Oh said.