Park calls for passage of pension reform bill by year's end

President Park Geun-hye called Tuesday for efforts to ensure a bill meant to reform the pension system for civil servants will pass the parliament by the end of this year.

"We will pass onto our future generations a big burden that will not be bearable and deal a devastating blow to the state finances ... if the reform is delayed again," Park said in a Cabinet meeting.

South Korea has delayed fundamentally addressing the issue of pensions for civil servants, despite being aware for decades that the current pension plan is not sustainable.

Park made her case for pension reform, saying it would be a difficult and painful process but would only get worse if delayed further.

Her comments came a day after her ruling Saenuri Party unveiled a set of measures to reform the pension program for civil servants in a way that reduces the government's growing pension deficit.

The measures call for, among other things, a delay in eligibility for public servants' pension to 65 from 60, starting in 2031, and raising the proportion of contributions from 7 percent of salary to 10 percent.

The measures are designed to reduce the growing deficit that has largely been attributed to the increasing average life expectancy for Koreans, which currently stands at 80 for men and 85 for women.

South Korea said the pension deficit will amount to 484 trillion won (US$460 billion) ― nearly the same amount as last year's government debt ― if left unaddressed.

Also Tuesday, Park called for comprehensive measures to root out corruption in the defense industry, saying such impropriety should never be tolerated. (Yonhap)