S Korean soldiers urged to make love, not war

SEOUL, Aug 3: South Korea needs soldiers and is calling on its troops to make them by turning out more babies.

South Korea's military this week unveiled a new policies aimed at making it easier for military couples to have and raise children.

The country has the lowest fertility rate among developed nations with an average of 1.08 children per woman. The birth rate among military couples is 0.83, officials said.

''The low birth rate can seriously affect our economy, politics and even national security,'' said Lieutenant Hong Kyung-moon, an army personnel officer.

The army will try to keep newlyweds together by allowing them to stay in the same posting for five years so that they can start and raise a family, Hong said by telephone.

If a military family has a third child, the soldier can select a geographic area in the country to their liking for their posting.

These policies and others went into effect on August 1.

''We improved the system and believe it will bring an increase in the birth rate,'' Hong said by telephone.

Communist North Korea, which has a military-first policy, extols its women to have as many babies as possible, praising its most fertile couples as heroes of the revolutionary movement.

The two Koreas are technically still at war because the 1950-1953 Korean War ended in a truce and not with a peace treaty.

REUTERS