South Korea's two largest labor unions take strong stance against proposed national pension reform: ”Pensions will be reduced to less than pocket money”

South Korea's labor community is voicing strong opposition to the government's new pension reform plan. The two major national organizations, the Confederation of Korean Trade Unions (KCTU) and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), have
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) criticized the pension reform plan announced by the South Korean government on the 4th as a "pension reform plan that will shake the foundations of the national pension system."
The Korea Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) downgraded the government's proposal to automatically adjust pension benefits in line with life expectancy and the number of subscribers, saying, "The government's proposal will lower public pensions to a level inferior to private pensions, under the pretext of financial stability."
Regarding this, he said, "The younger generation's pensions, which are expected to be small, may be automatically adjusted and reduced," and "This will make the national pensions of young people smaller than pocket money."
Regarding the government's proposal to discriminate in the speed of insurance premium increases, he said, "It's just a way to hide the disadvantageous conditions for young people. It doesn't apply to today's teenagers and young children, so it's a big
"Not only is it of no practical benefit, it also overlooks the issue of intergenerational inequality," he said. Regarding the consideration of raising the upper age limit for compulsory enrollment, he said, "There are no measures to make up for income shortfalls,
"What guts does it take to simply lengthen the period of membership?" he said. "The only solution is a universal extension of the retirement age that applies to all workers."
The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions further stated, "To protect the national pension for all generations, the income replacement rate must be raised to 50% and the insurance premium rate must be reduced to 10%.
"We need a legitimate approach that involves gradual adjustment and strengthening the state's responsibility," he said. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) also opposed the government's plan. In a statement, the KCTU said, "The government's plan ignores the security of the national pension.
"The reason that labor and civic groups, including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, agreed to the increase in insurance premium rates is to guarantee a minimum standard of living in retirement with an income replacement rate of 50%, not simply for the sake of financial stability," he said.
Regarding automatic adjustment, "The reason why the National Pension System functions as a pension is to maintain real value. It is said that this is done in many developed countries, but what is the minimum pension amount in those developed countries?
"We would like you to explain and provide materials on how much the average pension amount will be," they said. The two major labor unions also said that the government and the ruling party will carry out "subscription reform" to adjust insurance premium rates and income replacement rates in parallel with structural reform.
He also criticized the government for "lying to the people" by not including structural reforms in the current Diet session despite the collapse of pension reform negotiations at the end of the 21st Diet session.