By Kim Yoo-chul
President Moon Jae-in asked his top aides to review plans for the government to guarantee protecting pension payments public in a step to address concerns about the National Pension Fund's (NPF) poor returns on investment.
“I want the relevant government agencies to implement plans for a stronger state guarantee for the pension system because this is something that the government is responsible for,” Moon said in a weekly meeting with senior secretaries at Cheong Wa Dae, Monday.
“As long as the state is responsible, it makes no sense for those who've paid, not to receive their pension payout. The government is in the process of revising relevant procedures,” the President said.
The NPF is drawing criticism because of a lackluster performance coupled with the aging population and sluggish economic growth.
Public complaints revolve around the benefits that people will receive becoming smaller, making it difficult for them to depend on them for their post-retirement lives, the main purpose of the fund when it was launched back in 1988.
“It is necessary to hold discussions on revising the NPF to improve the people's post-retirement livelihood because widening income inequality has emerged as one of the biggest societal issues,” said President Moon, adding any changes would be based on a national consensus.
Moon also stressed the need to expand benefits.
“Recent statistics show that we may assume the number of people aged over 65 with no income is growing fast. Thus the government is moving toward the goal of increasing the post-retirement income of people through the national pension, government allowances and retirement pension programs,” he said.