[Exclusive] Basic Pension Eligibility Criterion to Go from 90% to 80% of Median Income… Minister’s Briefing Canceled an Hour Before (2026. 8. 27.)

Low-income groups to receive 400,000 won a month from 2028
Payments to higher-income beneficiaries frozen at 350,000 won
Minister’s briefing abruptly canceled an hour before

It has been confirmed that the government has prepared a reform proposal to change the “bottom 70% of older people by income” method of determining Basic Pension eligibility to one linked to the standard median income.

The eligibility criterion would start at 90% of the standard median income in 2027 and be lowered in stages to 80% by 2030. It is a “more for the lower, less for the upper” structure under which low-income older people receive 400,000 won a month from 2028, while payments to relatively higher-income beneficiaries are frozen at 350,000 won a month.

Yet with the Ministry of Health and Welfare abruptly canceling, one hour beforehand, Minister Jung Eun-kyeong’s advance briefing explaining the reform proposal, even the possibility that the proposal itself will be scrapped is being raised.

The cancellation is understood to reflect the presidential office’s intentions.

The Ministry had planned to hold an advance briefing on the Basic Pension reform proposal at 2 p.m. on the 27th, but at about 1 p.m. it announced that “some elements of the Basic Pension reform plan could not be finally decided, and it has unavoidably been canceled.” No further schedule has been set.

The government had originally planned to disclose the reform proposal in step with the announcement of next year’s budget, legislate within the year, and implement it in April 2027.

Eligibility criterion adjusted in stages from 90% to 80%

The core of the reform proposal is to change the current target take-up rate method, which sets the eligibility threshold so that 70% of all older people receive the Basic Pension, to a method linked to the standard median income. This year’s eligibility threshold for a single household is 2.47 million won a month, 96.3% of the one-person household standard median income of 2,564,000 won.

The proposal includes adjusting the eligibility criterion in stages to 90% of the standard median income in 2027, 86.6% in 2028, 83.3% in 2029 and 80% in 2030.

Since the principle that payment must go to 70% of all older people, as under the current system, disappears, the scope of Basic Pension eligibility could narrow over the long term.

400,000 won for low-income groups… frozen at 350,000 won for the upper tier

The Basic Pension amount is differentiated into three tiers according to income. The bottom 31% of older people by income, whose income is at or below 20% of the standard median income, receive 380,000 won in 2027 and 400,000 won in 2028. Those in the 31st to 45th percentile by income, above 20% and up to 40% of the standard median income, receive 359,000 won in 2027 and 367,000 won in 2028.

Both bands are linked to the inflation rate from 2029. Payments to beneficiaries above 40% of the standard median income are frozen at this year’s level of 350,000 won a month. Rather than raising all beneficiaries’ pension amounts uniformly, the increase is concentrated on low-income groups.

The proposal also includes easing the couples’ reduction for low-income couples. At present, when both members of a couple receive the Basic Pension, each amount is reduced by 20%; for couples at or below 40% of the standard median income, the reduction rate falls to 10% in 2027.

Recipients of occupational pensions such as the Government Employees, Military Personnel and Private School Teachers pensions are also to be included among Basic Pension recipients if their income is at or below 40% of the standard median income.

Canceled just before the Minister’s briefing… possibility of being scrapped

Under the proposal as it stands, low-income older people would receive more Basic Pension. By contrast, the eligibility criterion is lowered in stages and payments to relatively higher-income beneficiaries are held at 350,000 won a month. Since the benefit varies with income level, the interests of older people are bound to diverge.

The government’s aim is to strengthen support for low-income groups, but if attention falls on the narrowing of eligibility and the freezing of some pension amounts, the backlash could grow.

With the government’s approval rating falling of late, this political burden is read as having led to a re-examination of the proposal.

With the schedule abruptly canceled even after the responsible minister’s briefing had been announced, the possibility not only of revising the proposal or postponing its announcement but of scrapping it altogether is being raised. Concern is emerging that the government’s target of legislating within the year and implementing in April 2027 may also be disrupted.

This is not the first time a sensitive welfare reform has been brought up short under the Lee Jae-myung government.

The Ministry canceled the Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee meeting scheduled for the 30th of last month one day beforehand. It came immediately after controversy over contribution increases had spread, with news of a reform of the health insurance contribution system that would raise the contribution ceiling for very high earners among workplace subscribers and reduce the deduction for income other than salary. With no subsequent schedule set, the reform discussion has been halted for nearly a month.

Critics point out that if even the Basic Pension reform is halted out of fear of a public backlash, the Lee Jae-myung government’s momentum for welfare reform and trust in its policy could be shaken together.

Lee Hyun-jung

https://n.news.naver.com/article/081/0003674165?sid=102