An aide to President Yoon Suk Yeol has suggested the implementation of a "private contract" system for South Korean individuals to directly hire foreign caregivers, aiming to alleviate the financial burden on local households struggling to balance work and family life, which is believed to be contributing to the country's low birth rate. You Hye-mi, senior secretary to the president for population policy, emphasized the government's efforts to address complaints about the cost of hiring foreign domestic helpers, particularly Filipino caregivers, who are subject to South Korea's minimum wage. She proposed the possibility of households directly hiring foreign workers as "housekeepers" instead of going through intermediaries, drawing parallels to Japan's approach to hiring foreign caregivers. In addition, Rep. Na Kyung-won of the conservative People Power Party raised concerns about the discriminatory application of the minimum wage to foreign domestic workers and advocated for a more flexible approach to the minimum wage policy to stimulate foreign worker employment in South Korea. These discussions have been fueled by the country's aging population and declining birth rate, with the government recognizing the need to attract foreign workers as a potential solution to this demographic challenge.