'Time to discuss raising retirement age': DP lawmaker
Main opposition Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker on Thursday called for raising the legal retirement age, currently set at 60, citing demographic challenges amid rapid aging and the low birth rate.
Rep. Jin Seong-jun, chair of the Democratic Party's Policy Committee, said during a press briefing at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, that discussions on raising the retirement age should begin, given growing public demand.
'With rising life expectancy and the declining birth rate, the shrinking working-age population and labor shortages are emerging as major social and economic issues,' Jin said.
He addressed concerns that maintaining the current legal retirement age of 60 creates a problem in that there is a five-year gap between retirement and the start of National Pension Service benefits.
Under the government's pension reform plan, the age for receiving the national pension will increase from the current 63 to 65 by 2030.
'The Democratic Party has already pledged to gradually extend the legal retirement age in line with the national pension eligibility age, starting with small and medium-sized enterprises,' Jin said.
However, he noted that clarifying the status of older workers remains a contentious issue if the retirement age is extended to 65.
'Businesses argue that extending the retirement age should come with new employment contracts, while labor unions insist on continued employment under existing terms as (the two cases) create differences in labor cost. We need to start discussions on how to share the cost burden and reach a social consensus,' he said.
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