Government Employees Pension Taxpayer-Funded Subsidies Estimated to Exceed 10 Trillion Won, Reigniting Debate Over the Burden on Future Generations

According to the Pension Future Forum, an assembly of specialists in the pension field, and the relevant government ministries, as of the 28th,

projections based on the 2025 budget figures submitted by the Government Employees Pension Service to the government indicate that the deficit subsidy amount for 2025 is expected to exceed 10 trillion won.

In this context, given the pace at which mandatory expenditures are projected to expand, there are serious concerns that the scale of the Government Employees Pension deficit subsidy will grow in an increasingly uncontrollable manner.

The subsidy amount requested by the Government Employees Pension Service for 2025 stands at 10.0475 trillion won, an increase of 1.4435 trillion won over the 2024 figure of 8.604 trillion won — a rise occurring within a single year.

According to Government Employees Pension Service data, projected revenues for the Government Employees Pension fund in 2025 amounted to 14.8621 trillion won, while projected expenditures approached 24.2432 trillion won, implying a fiscal deficit of approximately 10 trillion won.

This deficit is effectively covered by tax revenues from the national government and local governments.

(Abridged)

The more acute concern is the burden that must be borne by the national economy.

Experts project that even under the government's most optimistic estimates, the ratio of the Government Employees Pension deficit subsidy to gross domestic product (GDP) will more than double between 2025 and 2065.

This implies that the costs of covering the Government Employees Pension deficit are growing at more than twice the rate of the economy's total income, placing on future generations a burden that far exceeds what the national economy can sustainably absorb.

In this regard, Yun Seok-myeong, Honorary Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA) and head of the Pension Future Forum, expressed strong concern.

Fellow Yun stated directly: "Even under the government's optimistic projections, the deficit ratio is expected to double, yet no one in the Republic of Korea today mentions the necessity of reforming the Government Employees Pension and other occupational pensions — it is difficult to regard this as a normal state of affairs for any society."

He characterized the current situation — in which society as a whole maintains silence while imposing a devastating fiscal burden on future generations — as fundamentally abnormal.

(Abridged)

Despite the gravity of the situation, criticism has emerged that the response from the government and the National Assembly remains complacent.

The Pension Future Forum has criticized the government for failing to properly disclose the reality of a pension scheme that absorbs 10 trillion won in taxpayer money each year.

In the deliberations of the 22nd National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform, reform of occupational pensions — including the Government Employees Pension, the Private School Employees Pension, and the Military Pension — has been entirely excluded from the agenda.

The Pension Future Forum has raised its voice in particular over the Special Committee's refusal to disclose relevant data — despite the estimated unfunded liability of the Private School Employees Pension approaching 200 trillion won — characterizing this refusal as a violation of the public's right to know.

Accordingly, the Pension Future Forum is demanding full and unedited disclosure of the fiscal status of the Government Employees Pension, the Private School Employees Pension, and the Military Pension through 2096 — the 70-year horizon used for the National Pension's financial projections.

The Forum's position is that addressing only the National Pension or the Basic Pension while excluding occupational pension reform — the primary driver of the surge in mandatory expenditures — amounts to nothing more than a stopgap measure.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0016046265?sid=102