One Week Left Until the End of the 21st National Assembly Term
'Belt Wrestling' Over Guaranteed Amounts for Retirement
Ruling Party "Proposes Amendments," Opposition "Use Official Channels"
With only the final plenary session of the 21st National Assembly remaining, the ruling and opposition parties have yet to finalize pension reform. Amid mutual blame over the income replacement rate, there have also been calls for the "president to make a decision."
Yoo Kyung-joon, the ruling party whip of the National Pension Reform Special Committee (Pension Special Committee), and Kim Sung-joo, the opposition party whip from the Democratic Party, have failed to narrow their differences. On the 22nd, Representative Kim attended a press conference titled "Press Conference Urging Pension Reform Based on the Results of Citizen Deliberation," hosted by the National Action for Strengthening Public Pensions, and stated, "I proposed a Pension Special Committee meeting at 10 a.m. on the 23rd, but there has been no response from the ruling party," adding, "We have not been able to overcome small differences to reach a final agreement." He further criticized, "The Yoon Seok-yeol administration said it would reform the pension system on its own, but when the National Assembly actually reached an agreement, it suggested postponing pension reform. If pension reform fails in the 21st National Assembly, President Yoon bears full responsibility."
The National Action for Strengthening Public Pensions held a press conference titled "Urging Pension Reform Based on the Results of Public Deliberation" at 11 a.m. on the 22nd at the main stairs of the National Assembly building. Attendees included Kim Seong-ju, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, Kang Eun-mi, a member of the Justice Party, and Jeong Hye-gyeong, an elected member of the Progressive Party.
Yoo, the ruling party whip of the Pension Special Committee, told Asia Economy on the same day, "The opposition party is asking to hold a meeting for political purposes without responding to the proposed amendments and without an agenda two days ago. Should we just hold it?" He added, "They are blaming others while not budging even slightly from the 45% income replacement rate. I have already stated my position on Facebook." This was effectively a rejection of the opposition party's proposal to convene the Pension Special Committee. Yoo had previously stated on his Facebook on the 10th, "The opposition party should stop irresponsible media play and first provide a responsible response to the proposed amendment of the 44% income replacement rate."
The Pension Special Committee was launched in July 2022. On January 31, a Deliberation Committee was established within the special committee, and after three months of discussion, the Deliberation Committee decided on a plan to "pay more and receive more." The adopted plan centered on raising the 'insurance premium rate,' the amount to be paid during the subscription period, from the current 9% to 13%, and increasing the 'income replacement rate,' the pension amount received in old age, from the current 40% to 50%. The Deliberation Committee involved 500 citizen representatives.
Based on the results of the Deliberation Committee, the ruling and opposition parties continued to debate whether to set the income replacement rate (the amount received) at 43% or 45%. Early in the discussions, the People Power Party stated that maintaining the current income replacement rate or raising it up to 43% was the only possibility, while the Democratic Party insisted that it should never fall below 45%. At a Pension Special Committee press conference on the 7th, Yoo Kyung-joon said, "It was difficult to implement only parameter reforms without any structural reforms." Kim Sung-joo said, "I feel frustrated that despite proposing a reasonable plan with a 5 percentage point reduction, we cannot reach an agreement due to small differences." Each expressed their difficulties. A stalemate continued for two weeks thereafter.
Joo Ho-young, Chairman of the National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform (center), Yoo Kyung-joon of the People Power Party (right), and Kim Sung-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea (left), the party coordinators, are expressing their positions regarding the conclusion of the Special Committee on Pension Reform at the National Assembly Communication Office on the afternoon of the 7th. [Image source=Yonhap News]
However, Representative Kim argues that there is no sign of agreement even at "44%." In a phone interview with Asia Economy on the 22nd, Kim said, "The ruling party has never officially proposed 44%," adding, "They should not talk to the media as if bargaining." He said, "They only blame the opposition because they do not want to take responsibility for the failure of the agreement," and added, "If they make a direct proposal through documents or meetings, we will discuss it internally. If 44% is accepted, is agreement possible?" He then said, "It is not because the opposition rejected it over 1 percentage point, but it is a matter that Yongsan (the presidential office) should answer," passing the responsibility to the president.
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