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S Korea to fund anti-aging research

South Korea, battling the effects of an aging population, plans to spend more than US$20 million over the next 10 years to discover the secrets of staying young.

The investment is aimed at keeping older people economically active for a longer period to compensate for the country's rock-bottom birth rate.

By 2016, the Ministry of Science and Technology plans to inject 19.8 billion won (US$20.6 million) to fund local scientists developing age-defying technologies.

"The money -- 2.2 billion won every year -- is not enough to stop a declining population but useful to make our society healthy," said Cho Seong-chan, a director of the ministry's technology department.

"This will also help South Korea become a superpower in the biotech industry, which is regarded as our future source to earn foreign currency," he said.

The project reflects prevailing worries about a declining population after South Korea officially became an aging society in 2000, when the ratio of the population aged 65 or older exceeded seven percent.

Falling birth rates are a global trend but the phenomenon is especially marked in South Korea -- sparking fears that economic productivity will be seriously threatened by a rapidly aging population.

"Our society is aging at the fastest speed in the world," said Moon Hyung-pyo, a researcher at the state-run Korea Development Institute.

People aged 65 or above will account for 37 percent of the population in 2050, causing a huge fiscal deficit as well as a social headache, he said.

Higher spending on welfare and health care is not a perfect remedy, Moon said, suggesting South Korea should boost its birth rate and allow old people to remain healthier and work longer.

Otherwise the economic growth rate could drop from a current estimate of 4.7 percent to 2.91 percent in 2020 and 1.6 percent in 2030, he said.

"We may see an uncontrollable situation unless the government takes effective and fundamental steps," he added.

South Korea is a latecomer in the biotechnology industry. Its scientific community was jolted by a scandal involving disgraced cloning expert Hwang Woo-suk, who is standing trial over his bogus stem cell research.

Scientists say the scandal has not dampened their push to develop anti-aging technologies.

"Hwang is just an isolated case. There are many, many other brilliant Korean scientists who can rival top international researchers in making biotechnology products," said Kim Tae-Kook, a professor at the state-run Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.

He claimed in June to have created a newly synthesized small molecule, which enables human cells to avoid aging and make cells younger.
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