Note: The following text is a completely rewritten version of the original text. It has been edited to sound professional and formal, while maintaining accurate information and a neutral tone. HTML formatting has been added for better readability.
Top 10,000 Retired Civil Servants Receive High Pension Amounts
Government Subsidized Pensions Create Budget Deficit
(Tax and Finance News – Reporter Song Ki-hyeon) According to a report by The Korea Economic Daily, the top 10,000 retired civil servants in South Korea receive an average monthly pension of 4.25 million won.
The obtained data from National Assembly Vice Speaker Jeong Woo-taek reveals that these pension recipients received at least 3.94 million won per month last year. Out of this group, 8,573 individuals received more than 4 million won monthly, and four people received over 7 million won per month.
Interestingly, the highest amount of civil servant pension received was 7.38 million won per month, which is three times higher than the maximum national pension amount at the end of last year (2.49 million won). Among the top 10 recipients, there are presumed positions such as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, President of a national university, and Prime Minister.
The Government Employees Pension Service explains that these high-income pension recipients have typically served for 40 years or more, and the high amount is due to the application of the pre-2009 and 2015 civil servant pension reform calculation formula.
Despite these individual cases, the average monthly civil servant pension payment stands at 2.68 million won (as of 2022), which is 4.6 times higher than the average national pension payment (580,000 won). Furthermore, the premium rate for civil servant pensions is 18%, twice the rate of the national pension (9%).
Due to insufficient funds, the civil servant pension has been paid with government funds for over 20 years since 2001. The National Assembly’s Budget Office estimates that this year’s government employee pension budget deficit will exceed 6 trillion won and is expected to reach 15 trillion won by 2050.
Seok-myeong Yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs, raised concerns over the inequality of pension systems, stating it would be difficult for the public to understand if national pension reform leaves emergency occupational pensions, such as civil servant pensions, unaffected.
Call for Occupational Pension Reform
The National Assembly’s Special Committee on Pension Reform, which began its second term in May, announced plans to include occupational pension reform in its structural reform efforts. While the civil servant pension was reformed in 2015, its funding has worsened due to a rapid increase in subscribers and beneficiaries.
According to the National Assembly’s Budget Office, the number of civil servant pension recipients increased by an average of 5.6% per year from 510,000 in 2018 to 630,000 in the past year. Subscribers also rose from 1.16 million to 1.28 million during the same period. The number of beneficiaries is expected to increase to 1.32 million by 2090. This rise will significantly impact the institutional dependency ratio, which is predicted to increase from 49.2 this year to over 100 in 2070, reaching 144.5 in 2093.
Jeong Woo-taek, Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly, emphasized the urgency for reform, attributing the long-term deficit and increased burden to the rapid increase in civil servants during the Moon Jae-in administration. He urged both ruling and opposition parties to work together for social consensus and implement necessary reforms.
The Special Pensions Committee is expected to discuss various reform measures for civil servant pensions, including increasing insurance premium rates, raising the retirement age, reducing pension payouts, and temporarily freezing pension amounts. However, opposition from public servant unions, such as the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations and the Federation of Civil Service Employees Unions, is anticipated. These unions have called for immediate termination of occupational pension reform and the development of a plan to compensate for income gaps caused by changes to the starting age of pension payments in the 2015 reform.
[조세금융신문(tfmedia.co.kr), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
(Tax and Finance News = Reporter Song Ki-hyeon) The Korea Economic Daily reported that the top 10,000 retired civil servants who receive the most civil servant pension receive an average of 4.25 million won per month.
According to data obtained by Korea Economic Daily from National Assembly Vice Speaker Jeong Woo-taek on the 10th, the top 10,000 public servant pension recipients last year received at least 3.94 million won per month. 8,573 people received more than 4 million won every month. There were also four people receiving more than 7 million won per month.
The highest amount of civil servant pension received was 7.38 million earned per month, which is three times the highest amount of national pension at the end of last year (2.49 million earned). 8 people who earned more than 6 million were won per month, and the 10th person received 5.99 million won per month. The top 10 final positions are assumed to be Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Chief Justice of the Constitutional Court, President of a national university, and Prime Minister.
The Government Employees Pension Service explains that most of these high income recipients have been in their jobs for 40 years, and the amount they receive is high because the calculation formula was before the reform of civil servant pensions in 2009 and 2015 is partially applied.
However, the total average monthly receipt of the civil servant pension is 2.68 million earned (as of 2022), which is 4.6 times more than the national pension (580,000 earned). The premium rate for a civil servant pension is 18%, which is twice as high as the national pension (9%).
The civil servant pension has been paid with government funds for over 20 years since 2001 due to lack of funds. The Budget Office of the National Assembly estimated that this year’s government employee pension budget deficit will exceed the 6 trillion won. It is expected to approach 15 trillion won in 2050.
Seok-myeong Yoon, a researcher at the Korea Institute of Health and Social Affairs, pointed out, “It will be difficult for the public to understand if we are only pursuing national pension reform, which inevitably means sharing the pain of the people, while leaving the most. emergency occupational pensions, such as the civil servant pension, as it stands.”
When the National Assembly’s Special Committee on Pension Reform began its second term in May, it announced that occupational pension reform would also be included in structural reform. The civil service pension was recently reformed in 2015, but since then, its funding has deteriorated as the number of subscribers and beneficiaries has increased rapidly.
According to the National Assembly’s Budget Office, the number of civil servant pension recipients increased by an average of 5.6% per year from 510,000 in 2018 to 630,000 last year. During the same period, subscribers also increased from 1.16 million to 1.28 million. It is estimated that the number of beneficiaries will increase to 1.32 million by 2090. The institutional dependency ratio (the number of beneficiaries supported by 100 subscribers) is expected to increase from 49.2 this year to over 100 in 2070, and to 144.5 in 2093.
Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Jeong Woo-taek said, “As a result of the rapid increase of 129,000 in the number of civil servants during the Moon Jae-in administration, the long-term deficit has increased, and the damage and increased burden. fall on the land and future generations.” He added, “The ruling and opposition parties must work hard for social consensus and courageous reform.” “We need to collect,” he said.
In the future, the Special Pensions Committee is expected to discuss ways to reform the civil service pension, including increasing the insurance premium rate, raising the pension start age, reducing the pension payment rate, and temporarily freezing the pension amount. A private advisory member of the special committee said, “The amount of the pension was frozen for five years in 2015, but the effect was minimal as the rate of increase in consumer prices was in the 0% range during that period,” and “We can consider temporary. freeze the benefit amount again.” .
However, strong opposition is expected from public servant unions. When the subject of occupational pension reform came up in the National Assembly, public employee unions such as the Korean Federation of Teachers Associations and the Federation of Civil Service Employees Unions put pressure on the special committee, saying, “Stop it immediately.” The Korea Economic Daily said they argued, “We must first come up with a plan to compensate for the income gap caused by extending the starting age of pension payment, which was promised during the 2015 reform.”
[조세금융신문(tfmedia.co.kr), 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
#Receive #million #earned #month #civil #servant #pension #times #national #pension
