By Do Je-hae
Parties were on their way to pass a bill aimed at reforming the debt-ridden pension system for government employees ― by lowering their benefits ― at a vote at the National Assembly late Thursday.
The floor leaders of the ruling Saenuri Party and the main opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy (NPAD) announced a bipartisan bill after months of deadlock due to conflicting conditions attached to the bill.
Both parties held general assemblies before putting it to a final vote in an Assembly plenary session.
The negotiations for the pension deal have been stalled since the parties failed to bring it to a vote last month.
The main opposition has demanded several conditions to the bill's passage.
This week, it also called for the removal of Health and Welfare Minister Moon Hyung-pyo and changing the government enforcement decree authorizing an investigation into the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking.
The NPAD had threatened earlier this week to boycott the plenary session unless the Saenuri Party accepted their demands, jeopardizing the passage of the pension and 57 other pending bills.
The two parties reached a compromise on the NPAD's demands during a meeting of Saenuri floor leader Rep. Yoo Seong-min and his NPAD counterpart Rep. Lee Jong-kul.
Instead of pushing for a motion to dismiss Minister Moon, they agreed to have him issue a statement expressing his regret over some controversial remarks he has made on the pension reform deal at an extraordinary Assembly session next month.
The NPAD has wanted to change the enforcement decree for the special Sewol bill to in investigate the Sewol tragedy to remove any chance of government interference.
An enforcement decree is written by the government as part of the final steps of the legislative process.
The main opposition wants to place experts from the private sector on the investigation’s executive board, instead of government officials.
On this issue, they decided to further their consultations at the extraordinary session next month.
Saenuri Party Chairman Rep. Kim Moo-sung criticized the main opposition for linking the Sewol-related bill to the civil service pension reform bill.
“It is absurd to hamper negotiations on the pension deal because of the Sewol issue. They have nothing to do with each other,” Kim told reporters.
Last-minute disagreements on the pension bill delayed a full session of the legislature last month, cancelling voting on a series of urgent economy-related bills. According to the reform bill, a civil servant whose monthly salary is three million won ($2,800) will have to pay a 270,000 won pension premium per month, up from the current 210,000 won.
The pension they would receive after retirement will also fall to 1.53 million won from 1.71 million won.
The Park Geun-hye administration is seeking civil servants' pension reform to reduce debt in the public sector. A recent finance ministry report showed aggregate debt levels of public companies amount to about 520.5 trillion won ($470 billion) while total government debt, the sum of central and local government debts, stands at about 570 trillion won.