[Reporter’s Notebook] Ministry of Health and Welfare Anxious Over Premiums: Is It Qualified for Pension Reform?

“The proposal to raise the National Pension insurance premium rate by 15% is not a government plan. The government is not directly involved in the discussions. Once again, I would like to clarify that the information reported by some media today is not a government proposal.”

On the 30th, Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, held an unannounced press conference and made this statement. The press conference was arranged immediately after news broke that the National Assembly Pension Special Committee’s private advisory committee was discussing a 15% increase in the National Pension insurance premium. Minister Cho repeatedly emphasized that there is no connection between the pension discussions and the government. The Ministry of Health and Welfare explained that this was to clearly state the government’s position.

This has been interpreted as the Ministry of Health and Welfare being strongly aware of the negative public opinion toward the premium increase. In a press conference where the government’s stance on the pension increase proposal was expected, the repeated insistence on ‘no relation’ sounded like a broken record. The fact that a minister-level official hurriedly attended a two-minute briefing without a Q&A session is itself unusual and indicates the ministry’s anxiety over the heated premium increase debate.

This government has been particularly cautious only in pension reform. President Yoon Seok-youl, who promised the three major reforms (labor, education, and pension), drew criticism by stating that the completion of pension reform would be announced “at the end of this administration or the beginning of the next.” This essentially means planning only and postponing implementation to the next administration. This is in stark contrast to labor and education reforms, where the president and related ministries have all raised their voices and stoked the fire.

Pension reform is inherently unpopular. No one welcomes money leaving their own pockets. Nationwide resistance is predictable, but for a sustainable nation, an increase in insurance premiums is virtually inevitable. It is questionable whether the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which draws a line at discussing premium increases out of fear of public opinion, can carry out proper pension reform.

What the Ministry of Health and Welfare should do is appeal to the public about the importance of pension reform. It is this very administration that pledged not to avoid the historic responsibility and mission of pension reform. If so, rather than unnecessarily explaining matters that have not been criticized, the right approach is to honestly emphasize the necessity of raising insurance premiums. They must resolve to implement unpopular policies for future generations and endure the resistance.