Pension Reform Bill Effectively Fails Today... This Time 'Gun Credit' Holds It Back

Tentative Agreement Reached Between Ruling and Opposition the Day Before
Ruling Party: "Opposition Changes Position... Demands Expansion of Military Service Credits"

The National Pension parameter reform plan of ‘pay more and receive more’ was effectively not passed in the National Assembly plenary session on the 20th. Although expectations for its passage rose after the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee and the government reached a tentative agreement the previous day, the expansion of military service credits (additional recognition of National Pension subscription periods) resurfaced as a contentious issue.

According to political circles on the 20th, the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties failed to schedule a meeting to discuss the tentative pension reform agreement. Discussions reached a deadlock as the Democratic Party demanded an expansion of military service credits. Kim Sang-hoon, Policy Committee Chair of the People Power Party, said at the emergency committee meeting that day, “We generally reached an agreement yesterday afternoon, but the Democratic Party leadership is trying to change their position again.”

Yonhap News

The Democratic Party is demanding an expansion of military service credits to 18 months. Although the day before, the Health and Welfare Committee’s ruling and opposition party secretaries agreed to expand military service credits from the current 6 months to 12 months, and childbirth credits from 6 months per child starting from the second child to 12 months per child starting from the first child, it is reported that there were disagreements at the leadership level.

On the afternoon of the 19th, Park Joo-min, Chair of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, Kim Mi-ae, People Power Party secretary of the committee, Kang Sun-woo, Democratic Party secretary, and Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, held a closed-door meeting at the National Assembly and reached a tentative agreement on pension reform.

The negotiation breakthrough came as the ruling party agreed to the opposition’s proposal to grant credits up to 12 months for the first childbirth. Expectations rose that the parameter reform plan containing the credit agreement and the formation plan for the Pension Reform Special Committee with the phrase ‘ruling and opposition agreement processing’ would be processed together depending on the leadership’s will, but the process was stalled again.

Meanwhile, if the plenary session on the 20th fails to pass the bill, there remains a possibility of passage at the plenary session on the 27th.