[President Yoon's Press Conference] Opposition: "President Trampled Pension Reform Will... If Even the Ruling Party Shows Willingness, Discussions Will Resume"

President Yoon: "Pension Reform Passed to 22nd National Assembly, Must Be Addressed"
Kim Seong-ju: "If People Power Shows Willingness to Negotiate, Discussions Will Resume for Agreement"

Kim Sung-joo, the Democratic Party floor leader of the National Assembly's Special Committee on Pension Reform, evaluated President Yoon Suk-yeol's statement on the 9th to defer pension reform to the 22nd National Assembly by saying, "It trampled on even the remaining will for reform from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the ruling party." However, Kim said, "The last remaining hope lies with the ruling party," adding, "If the People Power Party shows determination to achieve pension reform during the remaining period of the 21st National Assembly, the Democratic Party will immediately resume discussions and work toward an agreement."

On the same day, Kim expressed his position on President Yoon’s remarks about pension reform during the 2nd anniversary press conference via social media (SNS).

President Yoon said regarding pension reform, "With the 21st National Assembly nearing its end, rather than rushing, it is better to defer the matter to the 22nd National Assembly for more thorough discussions, allowing the public to develop a deeper interest in pension issues and go through a broader public discourse process to reach social consensus." He added, "The 21st National Assembly’s Pension Special Committee should not hastily conclude with any particular achievements or results but pass it on to the 22nd National Assembly, and the government will actively cooperate to ensure it is finalized within my term."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Kim said, "Looking back on the past year and a half of the National Assembly Pension Special Committee’s process, despite the government’s passive attitude and the ruling party’s avoidance, the opposition Democratic Party has participated proactively in the Pension Special Committee with the principle of pursuing bipartisan pension reform to resolve the pension reform tasks that were not achieved during the previous administration." He introduced, "Private expert advisory members, who are the country’s top pension specialists, created pension reform proposals through dozens of discussions and research processes over more than a year, and after gathering opinions from stakeholders such as labor and management, there was a deliberation process involving 500 citizen representatives selected from 10,000 citizens." He continued, "The president has wasted all those efforts, costs, and time."

Regarding the 22nd National Assembly, he pointed out, "The 22nd National Assembly will still be a minority ruling party, and with the government’s attitude over the past two years and a national approval rating in the 20% range, attempting such a difficult pension reform will only deceive the public again."

However, Kim left open the possibility of negotiation during the remaining term of the 21st National Assembly. If the ruling party shows willingness to negotiate, he said he would re-engage in talks to reach an agreement. He stated, "Pension reform, an urgent task for the people’s retirement and future generations, must never be deferred to the 22nd National Assembly."