28-Year-Old Korean Welcomes Seventh Child—Netizens Upset Due To Her Controversial Past

South Korea’s birth rates have plummeted to a historic low. Yet, a family has now welcomed their seventh child.

28-year-old mother Jeon Hye Hee and her husband of the same age, Cho Yong Seok, gave birth to a baby on February 5. It is now the youngest of seven: the first (10), the second (7), the third (6), the fourth (4), the fifth (3), and the sixth (2).

On February 22, Jung-gu District shared that ₩10.0 million KRW (about $7,500 USD) was delivered to the family to assist with childcare. They are the first couple to receive such an amount. It’s part of an incentive program to encourage Koreans to have more children amidst the alarming low birth rates.

The South Korean government also runs an allowance system that now gives all parents with a newborn $750 a month until their baby turns one year old. This monthly sum used to be $520 but was raised to $750 at the start of 2024.

— Business Insider

Jeon Hye Hee told Kim Gil Sung, the Mayor of the Jung-gu District Office, when he visited that she had grown up studying at the schools in the district. However, she would like to move to a larger home.

I went to school in this town from elementary school to high school, but I also wanted to raise my children in a district that gave a lot of support. We currently live in a 52m’ apartment, but I think we’ll need a bigger space when the kids grow up. We’re worried because the housing provided to households with multiple children are already too small to live with our 7 children.

— Jeon Hye Hee

Mayor Kim Gil Sung replied, “We will try to figure out a solution to your concerns. We’re very delighted that the first person to receive the 10 million won support came from our district. We will work harder to create an environment that’s good for raising children.”

Yet, Jeon Hye Hee previously appeared on the controversial reality show Teenage Parents (also known as High School Parents), highlighting the lives of those who became parents during high school. She appeared on it just last year. She had her first child with one man out of wedlock. She then married her current husband, Cho, and now has six kids with him.

Teenage Parents is an observational reality show following three teenage couples who experienced pregnancy, marriage, and child birth. The show reveals young parents’ candid lives and discusses the actual status of sex education on teenagers.

— OnDemandKorea via MyDramaList

In the show, it was revealed that Jeon Hye Hee was irresponsible. She didn’t take care of her kids. Instead, her mother, the children’s grandmother, takes responsibility. The grandmother does everything for them, including housework, while the mother relaxes.

This has stirred up mixed feelings among Korean netizens. Despite the birth rates, they believe the parents have poor intentions and are only taking advantage of the government’s grants. They think that parents should support their children instead of making the grandmother raise them. So, they were disappointed to see Jeon Hye Hee receiving both money and attention in the press when she hasn’t been acting as a mother to her children.

Read more about Korea’s birth rate below.

South Korea’s Birth Rate Alarmingly Plummets To Historic Lows

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