First Step in Pension Reform... Pension Income to Be Viewed 'At a Glance' Starting Next Year

Statistics Korea Begins Development of 'Comprehensive Pension Statistics'

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Son Seonhee] The government has embarked on developing statistics that consolidate dispersed pension data?including personal, national, basic, private, and retirement pensions?allowing pension income to be comprehensively understood at a glance. The results of the statistical development are scheduled to be first announced in October next year.

On the 14th, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum presided over the Government Seoul Office's National Agenda Inspection and Coordination Meeting and presented the "Comprehensive Pension Statistics Development Plan" containing these details.

The comprehensive pension statistics aim to comprehensively grasp the post-retirement income of the elderly in the super-aged era. Based on this data, it is expected that elderly welfare policies can be established, and overlapping benefits or blind spots in old-age management can be systematically managed. Furthermore, it holds great significance as it lays the groundwork for "pension reform." As the pace of aging accelerates, pension reform is considered an essential task to use limited finances efficiently. President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol also pledged during the last presidential election to establish a social consensus body called the "Pension Reform Committee."

Prime Minister Kim urged, "I ask all ministries, centered on Statistics Korea, to take an interest and actively cooperate so that this can be an opportunity for all citizens to enjoy a worry-free old age." The reason Kim particularly emphasized "cooperation" is that the managing institutions differ depending on the nature of the pension, making it difficult to consolidate related data until now. In fact, the government presented the same agenda at a meeting last January but abruptly canceled it at the last minute due to opposition from the National Tax Service, which manages personal pension data.

Ryu Geun-gwan, Commissioner of Statistics Korea, stated, "Through comprehensive pension statistics, we will be able to grasp the elderly's post-retirement life comprehensively and three-dimensionally, enabling the establishment of more detailed and stable welfare policies. Although the consultation process to share various pension data from multiple institutions took a long time, we will accelerate the development of pension statistics to ensure no disruption in policy utilization."