Materials from a Very Important Policy Forum Held in January 2013 by the Then-Opposition Party on the Park Geun-hye Administration’s Basic Pension (2026. 8. 30.)
We post here the materials from an emergency policy forum
held in January 2013
on the Park Geun-hye administration’s Basic Pension,
which had set off enormous public controversy.
At that time,
unlike today,
Yoon Seok-myung, head of the Pension Research Center,
was able to take part as a presenter
in a forum hosted by the then-opposition Democratic Party.
Representative Kim Yong-ik,
who convened the forum at the National Assembly,
had served in the Roh Moo-hyun administration
as Senior Secretary to the President for Social Welfare,
and in the Moon Jae-in administration
at the National Health Insurance Service
as its President.
During the Roh Moo-hyun administration,
Senior Secretary Kim Yong-ik favored introducing
a universal Basic Pension.
At that same time, by contrast,
Yoon Seok-myung, Director of the Social Security Research Division,
was the foremost opponent
of introducing
a universal Basic Pension.
Despite so great a disagreement,
Representative Kim Yong-ik
gave the opposing side a chance to present
at the forum
he himself hosted.
This is a point on which today’s politicians
ought to search their consciences.
At the time, a universal Basic Pension
was strongly advocated by
Professor Kim Yeon-myeong of Chung-Ang University
(later Senior Secretary to the President for Social Affairs in the Moon Jae-in administration),
and Dr. Oh Gun-ho spoke for the position of
the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU).
We hope readers will look closely at what each of them presented.
As grounds for opposing the introduction of a universal Basic Pension,
Dr. Yoon Seok-myung
presents the detailed results
of a financial projection.
Readers are invited to see this for themselves
in the attached file.
In the end, the KCTU
won more
than it had wanted.
This is precisely the reality facing
the Republic of Korea on August 30, 2026.
