Dispute over Additional Hike of Pension Payments to Solders

The government has announced that it would raise the premiums of three public pensions such as solders` pension, public servants` pension and private schools` pension. On the other hand, the congressional defense committee is getting the resentment of the public by supporting the higher payment rate for solders in giving the solders` pension.

Committee chairman Chang Young-dal said on Oct. 22nd, "The government has submitted a plan under which the three pensions would be raised equally. But, we should pay more pensions to the men and women in uniform who risk their lives for the defense of our country."

What the committee proposes is the equalization of the rise in pension payments with that of salary hike, as it was prior to 2000. In other words, the committee wants the government not to deduct 2% out of the salary hike and make the undeducted rate as the new premium rate for the pension payment. On the contrary, the government wants to cut out the 2% in adjusting the pension premium rate.

Under this internal policy, the committee will convene its subcommittees on Oct. 23rd. In the sessions, they plan to discuss the components of the committee’s bill including whether to make the pension payment rate equal to the rate of salary hike instead of the annual rate of the increase in consumer prices, whether to change the computation methods in such a way that the pension for each solder is calculated based on the last salary a solder receives, not on the average of three years’ salaries, and whether to continue pension payments unless a retied solder works for a public company. But it is almost certain that the bill as supported by the committee will be passed.

But the government opposes the committee’s version citing the expected shortage of the pension fund. If passed as introduced by the committee, the solder’s pension will sustain \180 billion of loss a year, which will run up to \2.1 trillion by 2012.

Park Bong-hum, "The pension is not in good conditions. In addition, considering the balance with other government workers, it is hard to give privileges only to solders."

In the meanwhile, Choi Yang-sik with Ministry of Administration and Self-Affairs announced, "The increasing rate of the payments of the three major pensions will be 2% minus that of salary hike from next year."

Young-Hae Choi yhchoi65@donga.com