Jeong Eun-kyung, the South Korean Minister of Health and Welfare, highlighted the urgent need to address elderly poverty by reinforcing basic pensions for low-income individuals. During a session of the National Assembly’s pension reform special committee on the 18th, she responded to inquiries about the government's principle of providing differentiated support for the elderly, reflecting the rise in living costs. Her remarks indicate that the government is considering adjusting basic pensions to not only account for inflation but also provide greater support for those in the most vulnerable financial situations.

Minister Jeong explained that the government typically adjusts the basic pension based on the annual inflation rate, which benefits a significant portion of elderly citizens aged 65 and older who fall within the lower 70% income bracket. The proposal to differentiate the increase in pensions is seen as a response to ongoing concerns regarding the adequacy of support for the most impoverished elderly populations. The discussions aim to ensure that these adjustments effectively alleviate poverty among elderly residents by providing a safety net for those who struggle financially.

Moreover, Jeong's presentation also touched on broader social security reforms, including initiatives to move special employment workers into the workplace insurance system. This change seeks to relieve the financial burdens on these workers by enabling them to share in insurance premium costs with their employers, aiming to boost participation rates in the national pension scheme. With the current national pension eligibility age set to rise gradually, the discussions around extending the mandatory age for participation align with the need to improve financial protections in old age and reduce the anticipated gap in incomes as the eligibility age increases in the coming years.