(2013) "Government Employees Pension Should Be Integrated with the National Pension"

Moon Hyung-pyo, the Minister of Health and Welfare-designate, has consistently argued that the Government Employees Pension requires fundamental reform. Although the government restructured the Government Employees Pension in 2009 to operate on a "contribute more, receive less" basis, he holds the position that merely adjusting contributions is insufficient.

Moon stated, "The general public's pension system is divided into three tiers—the National Pension, retirement pensions, and personal pensions—whereas government employees have a single integrated scheme," adding that "the reform of the Government Employees Pension must be seriously deliberated in order to ensure equity." This implies that the very structure by which government employees receive disproportionately high benefits relative to contributions, compared with the National Pension, must itself be reformed.

According to a research report published by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) the previous year, the gap in the benefit accrual rate—the annual payout rate relative to lifetime earnings—between the National Pension and the Government Employees Pension has been widening. The report projected that this gap, which stood at 1.4 times prior to the 2007 National Pension reform, would expand to 1.52 times in 2008 and is expected to reach 1.9 times by 2028.

https://www.joongang.co.kr/article/12973336