[사설] 돌연 연기된 기초연금 개편, 내용·절차 모두 우려스럽다

The South Korean government abruptly canceled the scheduled date for the Basic Pension Reform, including the announcement of the reform contents and procedures, just one hour before a briefing. The reform, originally announced for the first day of next month, was postponed without any notice. The reform is based on the government's justification of the "bottom-up aging" concept, which seems to overlook the "bottom" part and decrease the number of recipients.

The reform will change the basic pension eligibility threshold from 70% of income to 80% of the middle-income benchmark by 2030. This change could significantly reduce the number of pension recipients, from 70% of all elderly people to a considerable decrease. Those who were previously eligible and lose eligibility after the reform will have their pension payments reduced by 10% annually for the next five years.

Currently, the pension is adjusted based on the cost of living, with a 3% increase annually. However, the reform will result in a significant increase in pension payments for the bottom 20% of income earners, with 40 million won set for 2028. While the government emphasizes increasing pension payments for low-income elderly people, the actual increase is only around 3 million won.

The government has not included the improvement of the basic pension system for low-income elderly people in their reform proposal. The basic pension budget of 27.4 trillion won (23.1 trillion won from the central government and 4.3 trillion won from local governments) is expected to skyrocket to 66.6 trillion won by 2050 due to rising consumer prices and an aging population.

The reform raises concerns about the need for a thorough review and public consultation before implementing such a sensitive policy change.