(Pension Future Forum Position Statement) One Day Before the Debate Hosted by the 22nd National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform (Posted September 27, 2026)

After the Advisory Committee to the 22nd National Assembly Special Committee on Pension Reform

concluded at the end of May 2026,

and after many twists and turns,

a debate is scheduled to be held from 2:00 p.m. on September 28, 2026,

in a small conference room

of the National Assembly Members' Office Building.

One day later,

on September 29, reports recording the activities

of the advisory committee members, along with other documents,

are expected to be distributed

to the lawmakers who sit on

the Special Committee.

Launched to focus on discussions of structural reform,

the advisory committee

came to an early end

without holding even a proper discussion

of structural reform.

Instead of a proper discussion of structural reform, the committee stalled over

the ratio of pension expenditure to GDP,

the elderly poverty rate,

whether retirement pensions count as old-age income,

the unfunded pension liability,

the automatic adjustment mechanism, and the like—

figures, facts, or concepts

that should be the most objective of all—

because understanding of them varied and opinions on them differed,

and so it could not hold even a full-scale debate

on the core issues themselves.

The advisory committee was thus

brought to a premature and futile close.

Because proper discussions

through the advisory committee

could not take place,

we are posting to the Pension Future Forum's

"Statements and Commentary" category

a roughly 25-minute YouTube broadcast

that focuses on the issues

that were in dispute throughout

the advisory committee's meetings.

We ask that you, if necessary,

watch this YouTube video

(broadcast on April 4, 2025.

The ruling and opposition parties mentioned

here have since traded places.

This means that the ruling party mentioned

in the broadcast is now the opposition party.)

and, having watched it,

state your position on

the following five issues.

1. Transition of the Basic Pension to a scheme centered on vulnerable groups, as the OECD recommends

2. Transition of the National Pension to a 100% earnings-related pension

3. Strengthening the old-age income security function of the National Pension by extending its mandatory contribution age by five years, premised on reform of the rigid labor market

4. Introduction of an automatic adjustment mechanism applied simultaneously, immediately from next year, to National Pension contributors (a Finnish-style life-expectancy coefficient) and beneficiaries (a Japanese-style macroeconomic slide)

5. Securing an additional income replacement rate, by OECD standards, through the gradual mandating of retirement pensions

On these matters, the Pension Future Forum hereby puts its questions publicly.

Regarding the five issues above,

we put this to each advisory committee member

who opposed them throughout the committee's work,

and to the organizations

that have openly voiced their opposition

all along:

Why!

We ask that you present the grounds

on which you have opposed them.

Even after watching the attached

YouTube video,

do you still oppose them?

We put this question publicly as well.

We request an official response.