[Segye Tower] Structural Reform: A Difficult but Necessary Path (2026.01.28.)

But structural reform has been relatively pushed to the back burner. (omitted)

Discussion of overhauling the seniority-based wage system — under which pay rises mechanically with years of service — into a job-based pay system tied to duties and performance has vanished, and raising the retirement age was likewise reflected only as something to be ‘pursued in stages through social dialogue.’

Structural reform is difficult, but it is a path that must be taken. The Roh Moo-hyun administration released ‘Vision 2030’ in 2006.

It proposed pursuing institutional innovation and preemptive investment to confront structural challenges such as population decline, low growth, and polarization.

The institutional innovation agenda cited strengthening the competitiveness of the service industry, adjusting the retirement age, and reforming the National Pension and the special occupational pension schemes — long-standing tasks that remain stalled to this day.  It also floated formulas related to securing funding, such as ‘proceed without raising taxes through 2010 → public discussion thereafter.’

Although it drew little response at the time because approval ratings were low, the problem awareness embedded in the report remains valid today.

The Vision 2030 report projected Korea’s potential growth rate in the 2020s at 2.8%. Today, that figure is one we cannot even dream of.

The government must bear in mind that without structural reform, there can be no ‘sustainable growth’ either.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/022/0004101405?sid=110