Yoon's National Briefing and Press Conference on the 29th: "Keywords are Livelihood, Safety, Reform, and Communication" (Comprehensive)

Held at Yongsan Presidential Office at 10 AM
Second National Briefing... Explanation of Reform Tasks
Press Conference After About 3 Months... Q&A Session

President Yoon Suk-yeol will hold a national briefing and press conference at the Yongsan Presidential Office on the 29th. He plans to directly present the '4+1 Reform' plan, which includes responses to low birth rates alongside the four major reforms in pensions, healthcare, education, and labor, to the public.

According to the Presidential Office on the 27th, President Yoon will hold a national briefing at 10 a.m. on the 29th at the Presidential Office to explain key national issues. This will be the second national briefing since the announcement of the 'Yeongilman oil and gas' deposits in June.

A Presidential Office official said about this national briefing, "The key words are livelihood, safety, reform, and communication," adding, "We plan to thoroughly explain to the public the Yoon Suk-yeol administration's national achievements, core reform tasks such as pension, labor, healthcare, and education reforms, overcoming the low birth rate crisis, and the future direction of national governance."

Earlier, Chief Presidential Secretary Jeong Jin-seok also announced the national briefing during his opening remarks at the high-level ruling party-government meeting held at the Prime Minister's official residence in Samcheong-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 25th, stating, "The president will detail his vision and aspirations for key national tasks directly linked to the Republic of Korea's long-term future to the public."

President Yoon plans to reveal pension reform measures during this national briefing. The plan is expected to include measures to strengthen intergenerational equity by having the younger generation pay less insurance premiums while those who will soon receive pensions pay more.

For example, the middle-aged group would see their insurance premium rates increase by 1 percentage point annually, while the younger generation's rates would increase by 0.5 percentage points, reducing the burden on the youth until the target premium rate is reached.

Pension benefits for military service members and women giving birth are also expected to be included. The current 'childbirth credit,' which is recognized from the birth of the second child, is likely to be applied from the birth of the first child, and the recognition of pension contribution periods during military service, currently limited to six months, is expected to be extended to cover the entire military service period.

Notably, the government plan is also reported to include a mechanism that automatically adjusts payment and benefit amounts if the fund is at risk of depletion, ensuring sustainability. However, during this national briefing, President Yoon is expected to present only the broad direction of pension reform, with detailed government proposals to be announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare early next month.

In addition, topics related to healthcare, education, labor, and low birth rate reforms will be addressed. Key points include shifting to a specialist-centered system in tertiary general hospitals, strengthening support for essential medical care, the Neulbom School, protection for vulnerable workers, and the launch of the Population Strategy Planning Department.

President Yoon will also directly answer questions from reporters on the day. This will be about three months since the last press conference held on May 9, marking his second anniversary in office. At that time, President Yoon conducted a Q&A session for 1 hour and 13 minutes, answering 20 questions. This time as well, he is expected to take questions without restrictions on topics such as politics, economy, diplomacy and security, and reform tasks.

A Presidential Office official said, "We will address the parts that the public is curious about through the press conference."