Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Parties fail to agree on basic pension bill
By Jun Ji-hye
The rival parties failed to reach a conclusion on a long pending bill to provide seniors with a monthly basic pension, Monday, due to a lack of consensus among lawmakers of the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD).
At its meeting, the NPAD discussed whether to accept the ruling Saenuri party’s compromise suggestion, which Reps. Ahn Cheol-soo and Kim Han-gil, co-chairmen of the party, and some lawmakers appeared to want to accept.
They have expressed concerns that should they fail to approve the welfare bill, the ruling party will most likely exploit this failure to score political points in the upcoming June 4 local elections.
The governing party earlier proposed an ultimatum that calls for providing 70 percent of seniors in the low-income bracket with a basic pension ranging from 100,000 won ($96) to 200,000 won after linking the scheme to the national pension.
The rivals originally planned to pass the bill at the National Assembly plenary session today, had the NPAD given its nod.
However, some NPAD members were opposed, saying such a method will work unfavorably against young adults and middle-aged people who have diligently contributed to the national pension over the years.
The ruling party slammed members of the leading opposition party for their failure to share its view.
“The bill is a core scheme in improving living condition of the elderly. NPAD members should give priority to what the public really wants,” said Saenuri’s spokeswoman Rep. Kang Eun-hee.
The basic pension bill became an issue after President Park Geun-hye acknowledged that she cannot fulfill her campaign pledge to unconditionally offer a 200,000 won basic pension to all seniors over 65.
Rep. Kang said the NPAD should stop using such failure to sabotage the approval of the bill, given that Park has already publicly conceded to the practical constraints of her plan by apologizing.
She also claims the president sought the understanding of the elderly for the revision of her original plan.
In the meantime, Co-chairmen Ahn and Kim are said to have ordered the party to conduct a public opinion poll on whether or not the bill should be passed.
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