(Pension Future Forum Commentary) Basic Pension Cut for Those Who Draw the National Pension — Eight in Ten Are Small-Benefit Recipients Drawing ‘1 Million Won or Less a Month’ (October 27, 2026)

(Pension Future Forum Commentary:

Regarding the column, posted earlier on the Pension Future Forum website

in the “Statements and Commentary” category,

by Lee Seu-ran, former First Vice Minister of Health and Welfare,

in Edaily,

the Pension Future Forum made clear its position

that the reduction linking the National Pension and the Basic Pension,

contrary to Vice Minister Lee’s argument,

has been flawed

ever since the scheme was introduced.

Yet Professor Seok Jae-eun,

who at the time put forward the logic of intergenerational income redistribution and took the lead

in supporting the linked reduction,

now speaks,

in an interview with TV Chosun,

with an entirely different nuance.

Since it was none other than Professor Seok who,

together with Professor Kim Yong-ha,

had most strongly advocated introducing a tax-financed Basic Pension

that would pay all older people aged 65 and over

an amount equal to 20% of the average income

of National Pension contributors,

in the view of the Pension Future Forum,

the content of this interview

can only be assessed

as appearing inconsistent.)

[Anchor]
The number of people whose Basic Pension was cut because they receive the National Pension exceeded 840,000 last year. Most of them were people who receive less than 1 million won a month from the National Pension.

Is it reasonable for the pensions of older people whose old-age income is far from ample to shrink like this? Reporter Han Ji-eun has the story.

[Report]
The Basic Pension is a scheme that pays up to 334,000 won a month to people aged 65 and over whose income and property fall in the bottom 70%.

But there are older people who do not receive this money in full.

A, whose monthly income is around 650,000 won, receives only 200,000 won in Basic Pension, about half the maximum.

The reason is that the National Pension, into which A faithfully paid over the years, pays out about 1 million won a month.

B, 67, who lives in Gwangju in the South Jeolla region, likewise receives only 170,000 won a month in Basic Pension for the same reason.

Both cases are due to the ‘National Pension–linked reduction’ scheme.

When the National Pension benefit exceeds 514,000 won, 150% of the Basic Pension’s reference amount, the Basic Pension is cut by up to half in proportion to the contribution period.

Last year, the number of people whose Basic Pension was cut because of the National Pension stood at 842,000.

That is more than double in five years.

The Basic Pension amounts cut over the five years also exceed 2.8 trillion won.

The problem is that most of those cut are ‘small-pension recipients.’

Among those subject to the reduction, low-income beneficiaries whose National Pension is 1 million won or less a month made up 80.5%, or eight in ten.

By bracket, the largest number of those subject to the reduction were older people receiving 500,000 to 600,000 won a month.

Because of this, the average Basic Pension of people receiving both the National Pension and the Basic Pension is 287,000 won, but those subject to the reduction received only 214,000 won on average.

The scheme is said to take into account the reality in which future generations will receive their pensions, but it has created a structure of reverse discrimination in which the lower-income people who diligently paid into the National Pension are the ones who lose out.

Seok Jae-eun / Professor, Division of Social Welfare, Hallym University
“The issue of the minimum guarantee level seems to be something we need to discuss as we reorganize the multi-tiered system — the multi-tiered old-age income security system — going forward.”

Balancing equity between the two pensions matters, but it is also time to consider how to protect those whose old-age income falls short.

This has been Han Ji-eun, TV Chosun.

Data provided by: the office of Representative Nam In-soon, National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee

Reporter Han Ji-eun ([email protected])

https://n.news.naver.com/article/448/0000647097?sid=102