[Reset Korea] Tampering with the National Pension Will Neither Tame the High Exchange Rate Nor Secure Retirement (January 19, 2026)

Korea, as a small open economy, should pay close attention to the case of Sweden, which operates in a broadly similar environment. Having experienced an economic crisis in the early 1990s, Sweden saw its national debt ratio surge to 76.6% in 1995. Prime Minister Göran Persson appealed to the public that "there is no freedom for those who are in debt," and proceeded to devise a remedial plan. He established a fiscal rule requiring the budget to be planned on a three-year rolling basis, stipulating that any deficit incurred in a given year must be eliminated within three years. Through these efforts, Sweden's national debt ratio fell to 34.8% by 2010 and has remained below 40% to this day—a stark contrast to Korea, where national debt is expanding at a rapid pace.

The reason a significant number of domestic citizens and foreign investors appeared to join the trend toward a weaker won (stronger dollar) seems to be a lack of confidence in the future trajectory of the Korean economy. In an environment where the potential growth rate is declining sharply, the concern appears to be that deficit budgets are being drawn up while more funds are leaking into populist spending rather than being concentrated in investment in future growth engines.

In order to secure the legitimacy and validity needed to appeal to the public to increase its domestic equity investment, corresponding policy measures must accompany any such call. The government must provide credible assurance of a return to sound public finances. If the National Pension is to be deployed merely as a stopgap measure without the pain of genuine fiscal tightening, the outcome may be a failure to tame the high exchange rate coupled with a heightened risk to the public's retirement security. The government must open its ears to these concerns.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/025/0003497427?sid=110