Pension for lawmakers

National Assembly should scrap the law

Despite year-round squabbles, all lawmakers agree on one issue and that is their life-long pension through money from taxpayers.

It was belatedly known that the National Assembly passed the bill last February without any open discussion. The law would provide 1.2 million won ($1,000) in a monthly pension to all former lawmakers beginning once they turned 65 until their death.

The beneficiaries include all former legislators, including the convicted, the evicted and the rich. Even though they have other pensions, they are entitled to this special privilege. Furthermore, even the nation’s wealthiest lawmaker Rep. Chung Mong-joon of the governing Grand National Party will receive the pension when he turns 65. Even a one-day legislator is entitled to the retirement benefits.

The pension amount is larger than the 1 million won the retirees receive after paying into a pension for more than 20 years. The sum is more than 10 times the 112,000 won a handicapped person receives in monthly allowances. A Korean War veteran gets 90,000 won per month.

It is true that a few former lawmakers are struggling to make ends meet. About 100 former legislators are living on daily meal coupons. One former lawmaker is reportedly living in a container home. A 92-year-old former legislator is living in a public welfare center with his 82-year-old wife suffering from dementia. Lawmakers should remember that there are so many ordinary citizens suffering the same plight.

Korea introduced the National Pension System in 1988. Government officials and teachers have their own pensions. Like ordinary citizens, they should subscribe to these official pensions. Japan has already abolished the exclusive pension system for lawmakers. Members of the Japanese Diet are now subscribing to the national pension under the same condition as their voters.

The association for former lawmakers has provided the monthly stipend to its members with subsidies from the government since 1988. The stipend is to help the former legislators get minimum living expenses to maintain dignity. The National Assembly has turned the stipend into a life-time pension.

It is an abuse of legislative rights for lawmakers to introduce a life-long pension system for themselves through money from taxpayers. Pensions are available only to subscribers who have contributed their own funds. Without having made any payments, lawmakers are extorting money from taxpayers for their post-retirement life.

The privileged system must be immediately scrapped. Instead, they must create their own mutual fund with their own contributions to support themselves.