"The Moon Administration's Attempt at National Pension Reform Was a Sham That Misled the Public and Then Wrapped Up"

Pension reform has been a "hot potato" for successive administrations. As the population ages, the number of pension beneficiaries has continued to grow, while the economically active population has declined amid falling birth rates, producing a steady deterioration in the pension's fiscal position. Every administration has been well aware of the need for improvement, yet the political calculus that a "contribute more, receive less" reform would not win votes has tended to take precedence. Yoon Seok-myung (age 61), a Senior Research Fellow at the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (KIHASA), a government-funded research institute, remarked: "The Moon Jae-in administration's pension restructuring was a fraud perpetrated on the public," adding that "although pension finances would deteriorate far more severely by the seventieth year, the end of the fiscal assessment period, the administration took a sleight-of-hand measure capable only of postponing the fund-depletion date by a few years, called it a 'fiscal-stabilization plan,' and, under the banner of 'strengthening public pensions,' passed off a deterioration as reform."

He further stressed: "For years, vested interests including certain government officials and academics have formed cartels that concealed and distorted information to delay pension reform," and "reform is impossible under an approach that demands the government shoulder all responsibility through public finances." He also proposed that "if the President were to step forward just a little more actively, proper pension reform would be achievable," suggesting: "We should produce a 'Pension Reform Fact Report' and live-stream the reform committee's meetings on YouTube to enhance transparency."

https://www.chosun.com/opinion/column/2022/06/06/Q2PIXORRUNGFBPEXE7CC6A5HAQ/