Seongnam City Council Closes 301st Extraordinary Session
KPUF Welcomes Seongnam City Council's Resolution Urging Extension of Civil Servant Retirement Age
Resolutions Passed Including "Urging Installation of Canopies at Subway Line 8 Seongnam City Station Entrances"
The Seongnam City Council in Gyeonggi Province passed the "Resolution to Urge the Extension of the Civil Servant Retirement Age to 65 to Address the Income Gap in Civil Servant Pensions" at the 301st extraordinary session plenary meeting held on the 19th.
Seongnam City Council concluded the schedule of the 301st Seongnam City Council Special Session, which was held for seven days from the 13th to the 19th, with the 2nd plenary session of the 301st Special Session on the 19th. Provided by Seongnam City Council
Among the agenda items presented that day, the "Resolution to Urge the Installation of Canopies at Subway Line 8 Seongnam City Station Entrances" and the "Resolution to Urge Improvement of Inspection and Management Systems for Renewable Energy Facilities" were also passed.
The Korea Public Officials Labor Union Federation (Chairperson Seok Hyun-jeong, hereafter KPUF) issued a statement welcoming the Seongnam City Council's adoption of the "Resolution to Urge the Extension of the Civil Servant Retirement Age to 65 to Address the Income Gap in Civil Servant Pensions" at the 301st extraordinary session plenary meeting, urging the extension of the retirement age to resolve the income gap for 1.2 million civil servant workers' retirement income.
In the statement, KPUF said, "The Seongnam City Council adopted the 'Resolution to Urge the Extension of the Civil Servant Retirement Age to 65 to Address the Income Gap in Civil Servant Pensions,'" adding, "The extension of the civil servant retirement age is not merely an expansion of welfare but an essential policy for sustainable public service operation and stable administrative service provision, urging the retirement age to be extended from the current 60 to 65."
It continued, "We actively welcome the Seongnam City Council's adoption of the resolution and emphasize that the extension of the retirement age is essential to secure the retirement stability of workers whose pension receipt has been delayed due to past pension-related legal deteriorations. In 2015, the government amended the Civil Servant Pension Act and promised to prepare measures to address the income gap caused by the extension of the pension starting age, but no action has been taken so far. Deceived by the government's sweet talk, about 100,000 civil servants retiring by 2032 will face an income gap," it stressed.
KPUF also stated, "The National Human Rights Commission of Korea has recommended raising the legal retirement age from the current 60 to 65 under relevant laws such as the Elderly Employment Promotion Act, recognizing that the gap between the legal retirement age and pension starting age causing income discontinuity seriously threatens retirement security."
Furthermore, it criticized, "The government and the National Assembly are wasting time, swayed by political interests without regard for the people's retirement. Discussions on extending the retirement age have not even properly started, yet they are abruptly discussing only pension premium increases. They are making the public's retirement outlook even bleaker by citing a 43% income replacement rate, far below the 50% rate derived from the deliberative discussions of citizen representatives in the Pension Reform Public Deliberation Committee."
Deputy Speaker Ahn Gwang-rim expressed in his closing remarks, "I would like to extend my deep gratitude to everyone who actively cooperated and supported us so that the extraordinary session could be smoothly concluded," and added, "I hope the executive branch will ensure that the budget approved this time is promptly and appropriately executed to contribute to the welfare improvement of citizens."
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