‘Parameter Reform’ to be Concluded at Government Consultative Meeting on the 28th
Internal Opposition Raises Variables in Agreement Reaching,
Woo Won-shik, Speaker of the National Assembly, presides over a meeting of the floor leaders of the ruling and opposition parties at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, on the morning of the 26th. (Joint Coverage) February 26, 2025 / News1 ⓒ News1 Lee Kwang-ho,
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, ‘(Seoul=News1) Reporter Jeong Ji-hyeong = The ruling and opposition parties are closer to reaching an agreement as they decided to wrap up the National Pension Parameter Reform at the government consultative meeting.’,
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, ‘The People Power Party and the Democratic Party agreed on February 26, during a meeting presided over by National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, to conclude discussions on parameter reform at the government consultative meeting, scheduled for the 28th.’,
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, ‘Both parties agreed to complete parameter reform first while continuing discussions on structural reform within a special committee.’,
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, ‘The ruling and opposition parties also agreed to form a special committee for pension reform as requested by the People Power Party, and the ruling party will chair it.’,
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, ‘This move suggests that the opposition party has stepped back on the parallel track of pension reform discussions.’,
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, ‘Among other special committees agreed to be formed outside of the pension committee, the ruling party will chair the APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation) committee, while the Democratic Party will take the chairs for the ethics committee and the climate committee.’,
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, ‘With the ruling and opposition parties surpassing the hurdles of raising the insurance premium rate to 13% and forming the special committee, only the issues of the income replacement rate and automatic adjustment mechanism remain.’,
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, ‘The ruling party proposes income replacement rates of 42-43% with the introduction of the automatic adjustment mechanism, while the opposition party rejects the mechanism, advocating for a replacement rate of 44-45%.’,
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, ‘Both sides presented mutually compromising proposals on income replacement rate and automatic adjustment mechanism at the government consultative meeting on the 20th, but no agreement was reached due to the need to gather internal opinions.’,
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, ‘This is because the People Power Party needs to assess internal voices on accepting a 44% income replacement rate, and the Democratic Party needs to determine if they can approve the automatic adjustment mechanism on the premise of “National Assembly consent.”‘,
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, ‘The significant internal opposition in both parties is a variable.’,
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, ‘In the Democratic Party, labor groups strongly oppose the introduction of the automatic adjustment mechanism, which may reduce pension benefits, thus showing reluctance.’,
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, ‘The automatic adjustment mechanism adjusts insurance premiums and pension benefits automatically based on economic growth rates or demographic changes, adjusting contributions and benefits appropriately as needed.’,
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, ‘In contrast, in the People Power Party, there are strong voices that increasing the income replacement rate from the current 40% to 44% undermines the very purpose of pension reform to ensure sustainability.’,
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, ‘A People Power Party lawmaker told News1 in a call, “An insurance premium rate of 13% with a 43% income replacement rate is already a half-baked reform, and raising the rate to 44% cannot be called a reform.”‘,
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, ‘Hee-sook Yoon, head of the Yeouido Institute, criticized on KBS Radio Flash Current Affairs that “Increasing the income replacement rate by 1% could burden future generations with 1,000 trillion won,” adding, “It is shameless to consider raising the rate again, which was set to decrease during the Roh Moo-hyun administration, in the eyes of the youth.”‘,
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, ‘Joo Ho-young, deputy speaker of the National Assembly from the People Power Party, strongly criticized the proposals to increase the income replacement rate to 43-44% at a press conference, calling it “pension runaway and plunder” that passes the burden onto future generations.’,
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, ‘Deputy Speaker Joo argued that, to prevent pension fund depletion, even if the insurance premium rate is increased to 13%, the income replacement rate should be frozen at the current 40%.\n’