Provisional Agreement Reached on Formation of Pension Reform Special Committee
and Expansion of Childbirth Credits
On the 19th, the government and the ruling and opposition parties reached a 'provisional agreement' acceptable to all three parties?ruling party, opposition, and government?during an emergency meeting to discuss the National Pension reform plan.
It is reported that instead of including the ruling party's requested phrase 'special committee on pension reform to be agreed upon and processed,' the parties agreed to apply the opposition's proposal to expand childbirth credits. If the floor leaders and lawmakers of both parties accept and endorse this, passing the 'final hurdle,' there is a possibility that the National Pension parameter reform plan will be processed at the National Assembly plenary session on the following day, the 20th, drawing attention.
Park Jumin, Chair of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Kim Mi-ae, the People Power Party's secretary of the Welfare Committee, Kang Seon-woo, the Democratic Party's secretary, and Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, met at the National Assembly that afternoon and discussed the reform plan for about 30 minutes.
After the meeting, Kim Mi-ae told reporters, "A positive agreement among ourselves (those present) has been reached," adding, "What remains is to persuade the leadership of both parties." Kang Seon-woo also said, "We have reached a consensus on one conclusion." However, they did not disclose specific details of the agreement.
Chairman Park Ju-min of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Kim Mi-ae, the senior member of the People Power Party, Kang Sun-woo, the senior member of the Democratic Party of Korea, and Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, are holding an emergency meeting on the 19th at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, to discuss pension reform. Photo by Yonhap News
On that day, the ruling and opposition parties reportedly made mutual concessions on the formation of the pension reform special committee and the expansion of childbirth credits?issues where there had been significant differences?and reached a provisional agreement.
The ruling party accepted the opposition's proposal to apply childbirth credits from the first child and recognize 12 months of National Pension subscription period, while the opposition agreed to codify the ruling party's requested phrase on the 'agreed processing' of the pension reform special committee.
Going forward, the ruling and opposition parties are expected to attempt to process the pension reform plan through the Welfare Committee subcommittee and full committee meetings on the morning of the 20th, followed by the plenary session in the afternoon. Additionally, there is a possibility that the formation plan for the pension reform special committee will be processed together with the pension parameter reform plan.
Previously, although the ruling and opposition parties agreed on the specific measures for parameter reform, they failed to narrow differences regarding the formation method of the special committee. However, with the ruling party expressing that the special committee can be launched without codifying the agreed processing phrase, discussions on processing the parameter reform plan are expected to progress.
Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a press briefing that day, "If the Democratic Party clearly shows willingness to agree on the pension structural reform processing, our party is willing to launch the pension reform special committee even without that phrase," adding, "I hope we can reach an agreement quickly, even today, to accelerate pension reform."
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