National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform Private Advisory Committee Concludes Activities… No Consensus Reached (May 19, 2026)

The Private Advisory Committee of the National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform has decided not to extend its mandate, which is set to expire on the 29th of this month. As positions among committee members remain sharply divided, the committee is reported to be preparing individual opinions rather than a unified consensus document.

In a telephone interview with Kookmin Ilbo on the 19th, one advisory committee member stated, "The atmosphere has formed that there is no longer any meaningful point in extending the committee's activities, given that deliberations have continued to spin their wheels," adding, "The meetings are to be concluded by the end of this month and work on the report is scheduled to begin."

The Private Advisory Committee has served the role of having experts compile issue-by-issue opinions on structural pension reform in the preliminary stage before deliberations by the Special Committee itself.

It is reported that across the nine sessions held thus far, significant divergences of opinion existed among members regarding the introduction of an automatic adjustment mechanism and the issue of government treasury contributions.

The automatic adjustment mechanism was a provision first included in the National Pension reform plan put forward during the Yoon Suk-yeol administration. It is a mechanism that would permit benefit reductions in the event of fiscal depletion caused by demographic shifts and other factors.

On this point, members advocating for income security — who argue that the income replacement rate (the amount received) must be raised to address the problem of elderly poverty — have maintained their opposition, characterizing the automatic adjustment mechanism as an "automatic benefit-cutting mechanism."

One member is reported to have emphasized the need for further deliberation, stating, "We must nonetheless arrive at a consensus within the advisory committee."

In response, another member stated, "How can we reach a consensus when we cannot agree on the facts?" and noted, "There were even those who argued that the advisory committee was pointless — saying 'there is no use in meeting' — given that consensus was structurally difficult from the outset."

The committee plans to conclude its activities and issue a report. However, rather than presenting a consensus proposal in the report, it is understood that the committee will produce a so-called "department-store report" reflecting the individual arguments of each member.

The structural reform — which must engage not only the National Pension but also the Basic Pension and retirement pension in an integrated manner — has now been passed to the National Assembly.

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