Civic groups protest 'unilateral' gov't plan for pension reform

SEOUL, Oct. 23 (Yonhap) -- Activists from dozens of civic groups called on the government Thursday to scrap its "unilateral" plan to scale back the pension program for civil servants, saying more public pension, not less, is needed.

The Ministry of Security and Public Administration revealed a draft bill earlier this month, requiring government employees to essentially start paying more into and receiving less pension in 2016.

The bill, which awaits parliamentary approval, is part of a government move to undercut its growing pension deficit. The finance ministry said last month that the shortage resulting from public pension was forecast to reach 18.4 trillion won (US$17.4 billion) by 2018.

On Thursday, activist groups including the nation's two largest umbrella unions -- the Federation of Korean Trade Unions and the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions -- said the government needed to expand its pension system, not penalize its employees.

"The current plan basically shifts the government's responsibility for retirement to individuals and families," the groups said at a press conference in downtown Seoul. "It annihilates the basis for public pension under the name of financial austerity."

They urged the government to invest on public pensions instead of private ones, saying the latter doesn't help prevent poverty among elderly people.

"Some 49 percent of the elderly in South Korea are poor, well above the OECD average of 13 percent," they said. "To apply a European pension scheme in this situation is like considering poverty normal for the senior population."

The government plan, if passed, would oblige public servants to pay 41 percent more and receive 34 percent less in pension. Those who become public servants in 2016 will be put under the same pension scheme as everyone else in the country.

sojungpark@yna.co.kr
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