The Committee of Employment of the National Pension Going Back and Forth.

The government has decided to have the Committee of Employment of the National Pension to be newly established under the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) as a permanent organization to manage the national pension fund of more than $100 trillion. This is in opposition to the Prime Minister’s recent announcement of locating the Committee of Employment of the National Pension under the Office of Premier and arouses comments that the process of government’s policy decision is not consistent.

On October 2, a senior official of the MOHW said, “The office of premier and several related ministries-the Ministry of Welfare, the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Planning and Budget, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs had discussed and decided recently which branch should control the MOHW.”

At first, the Committee of Employment of the National Pension belonged to the MOHW on the revised bill of national pension law. However, it met with the opposition of the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Planning and Budget throughout the consultation of ministries. Finally, it came to an agreement of placing it under the Prime Minister.

However, the agreement has changed because the Committee of Health and Welfare of National Assembly objected to the bill of locating the Committee of Employment of the National Pension under the Prime Minister by adopting a resolution, and the public opinion is against it (e.g. the civic organizations).

An official of the Ministry of Planning and Budget said, “The amount of pension will be $1700 trillion in 2035 and thus, it is needs to be managed effectively under the office of premier. However, it finally came to an agreement of locating the Committee of Employment of the National Pension under the Ministry of Welfare.”

The Government will hold a meeting of ministries under presidency of Kop Gun, the Prime Minister, and will confirm the plan by next week. The Committee of Employment of the National Pension consists of nine members, chairman, and standing and non-standing members. The chairman and the standing members will be recommended by public announcement or the committee of recommendation and finally appointed by the president. The Committee of Distribution of Property, the Committee of Compensation of Estimation and the Committee of Surveillance of Law-Abiding will work under the Committee of Employment of the National Pension.

Dong-Won Kim daviskim@donga.com