Jung Min-ho has worked as a staff writer at The Korea Times since 2012, mostly covering social and political issues. He currently belongs to the Politics & City Desk where he covers topics such as health, labor and human rights. Prior to joining the team, he was responsible for covering North Korea and sports. His article about a biosecurity breach of Middle East respiratory syndrome won him an award from the Korea Science Journalists Association in 2016. He is also the co-author of the book, "Medical Pioneers of Korea" (2019). He served as the head of the international relations committee at the Journalists Association of Korea from 2021 to 2023.
Korea promotes positive images of older workers amid aging population
Park Moon-soo, a director of senior policy department at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, speaks during an event held at The Plaza Hotel in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap
By Jung Min-ho
Campaign launched to help seniors find jobs as more wish to remain in labor force
As Korea is expected to become a super-aged society next year, with more than 20 percent of the population being 65 years or older, the government is stepping up efforts to promote positive images of older workers.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said on Monday that it will run a weeklong campaign to raise awareness of its efforts to create jobs for older adults and help improve perceptions of those who remain active in the labor market in the later stages of life.
“Having a job is essential not just for income stability but also for quality of life,” Lim Eul-ki, director general at the ministry’s senior policy department, said at an event held in Seoul. “As the country enters a new era, with more than 10 million senior citizens … We will make the utmost effort to support them.”
During the campaign, scheduled to continue at Seoul Plaza until Sept. 27, the ministry plans to help older jobseekers by offering firms incentives for hiring them or introducing them to training programs they may need to find work.
In cooperation with the state-funded Korea Labor Force Development Institute for the Aged (KORDI) and private groups representing senior members of society, the ministry also plans to hold various online events to spread positive images of such workers.
Jobs they can find through the government programs could be anything, from consulting for the tech industry to helping young students safely cross streets near their schools and reporting cars parked illegally.
Critics say giving them such tax-funded “easy work” is a waste of the government’s budget. But given that Korea’s senior poverty rate is one of the highest among OEDC member states and many older adults would otherwise live on welfare, officials said such criticism is out of touch with reality.
Nearly 40 percent of Koreans over 65 live below the OECD’s poverty line, which is set at half the national median income, according to government data.
For this reason and others, many older adults wish to remain active in the labor force even after their forced “retirement” at a certain age.
People check the job board set up at a public plaza in Suwon, in this Oct. 11, 2023, file photo. Newsis
According to a report released last week by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, a think tank, more than 41 percent of Koreans surveyed said they would support the idea of extending their legal retirement age, which is around 60 in most state-run and private firms.
That figure was significantly higher than those surveyed in other nations, including Italy (8.6 percent) and Denmark (7 percent).
Although a stable income is the chief reason for most people working after their retirement, it isn’t the only one. Ministry officials said many do so also for health and for meaning in life.
According to a survey released during the event, the rate of older adults suspected of having depression is far higher among those who do not work. Other research also showed that having a job helps people maintain their physical and mental fitness.
Officials say their project to help older adults find work and remain in the workforce is one of the key policies in the face of Korea’s drastic workforce transition amid its falling total fertility rate, which is already the lowest in the world.