October 2018

05Oct

Two Korean pension funds to boycott coal finance

Korea’s Teachers’ Pension and Government Employees Pension System announced they will not consider financing any new coal-fired power plants, becoming the first Korean financial institutions to boycott coal financing amid the global movement to tackle climate change and air pollution problems. Although the two hold no history of having invested in coal projects in the past, their refusal to participate in any future projects can be a catalyst for other institutions to follow suit, according to environmental activists. In Korea, the...

October 5, 2018
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March 2018

11Mar

Causes and Characteristics of Population Aging

By Kyounghoon Park (The Bank of Korea) Korea’s level of population aging remains lower than the OECD average. However, the pace of population aging in Korea is faster than that of many other member countries, as its total fertility rate is the lowest among OECD countries while its life expectancy exceeds the OECD average. Using panel data from OECD member countries, this paper divides the common causes of population aging in OECD countries into declining fertility rate and increasing life...

March 11, 2018
Aging, Articles, Labor Market, , ,
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February 2018

12Feb

The Effect of Income on Subjective Well-Being in Later Life: A Case Study of a Government Pension in South Korea

By Erin Hye-Won Kim (National University of Singapore (NUS) - Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy) Objectives. Despite keen interest among scholars and policy makers, little is known about whether income affects subjective well-being (SWB) in later life, a notoriously difficult question to answer, given the empirical challenge of isolating the effect of income from correlated influences and the possibility of reverse causality. This paper examines the effects of the 2008 introduction of the Basic Old-Age Pension, a noncontributory...

February 12, 2018
Articles, Pension design, Regulation, Slider-Left, ,
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November 2017

28Nov

S. Korea. State pension fund grows sharply over 30 years

South Korea's state-run pension fund has posted exponential growth since its inception about 30 years ago, but it still has a long way to go in order to serve its intended purpose, analysts said Tuesday. South Korea adopted the state pension program in 1988 to guarantee income for the elderly after retirement, and to provide coverage for disabilities and surviving family members. According to data from the National Pension Service, the number of subscribers to the National Pension Fund came to...

November 28, 2017
News, Slider
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October 2017

30Oct

Nobel laureates discuss ageing in Seoul

Around 30 world-leading scientists, thinkers and opinion leaders, including five Nobel laureates, gathered in Seoul for an international forum on aging. Under the theme of “The Age to Come,” the Nobel Prize Dialogue kicked off its three-day run at Seoul’s Coex on Monday. Packed with lectures and panel discussions on issues surrounding aging, the event is part of the annual Nobel Week Dialogue organized by Nobel Media and the Nobel Center Foundation. The main one-day program is slated for Dec. 9...

October 30, 2017
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September 2017

11Sep

Korea’s Stubborn Leviathan

Sentencing the billionaire leader of South Korea's largest and most powerful company, Samsung Electronics Co., to five years in prison for bribery and embezzlement sent a strong signal the country might finally push through long-promised corporate reform. But if Korea really wants to clean up the overly cozy and sometimes corrupt relationship between the government and large family-owned business groups, known as chaebol, it will have to look inward to its own national pension fund. Since most workers must contribute...

September 11, 2017
News, OP Ed, Slider
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July 2017

31Jul

S. Korea’s NPS to reinforce top investment decision-making body

South Korea’s biggest institutional investor National Pension Service (NPS) is seeking to hold a fund management committee meeting on a monthly basis and add more financial experts to its members in a move to enhance its independence from political influence and investment decision-making role. According to multiple sources from the political circle and the Ministry of Health and Welfare on Friday, the country’s National Assembly is preparing to introduce a revised bill in October that will mandate the NPS’s fund...

July 31, 2017
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May 2017

25May

S.Korea’s pension fund says to raise overseas investment to 40 pct by 2022

South Korea's National Pension Service (NPS), the world's third-largest pension fund, said on Thursday it will raise overseas investment to about 40 percent of assets by 2022, as it continues to diversify investment to minimise risk. The NPS, which had 564 trillion won ($504.34 billion) under management as of February, had 27 percent of assets invested overseas as at the end of 2016. The fund, which estimates assets of $2.2 trillion by 2043, said in a statement it aims to have...

May 25, 2017
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April 2017

17Apr

South Korea. Daewoo Shipbuilding’s Bailout Plan Cleared by Pension Fund

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the world’s largest shipbuilder, won a reprieve from major bondholder National Pension Service and other lenders, helping avert a payment crisis that had threatened to almost shut the company. The NPS agreed to restructure 1.55 trillion won ($1.4 billion) of bonds issued by the company after the shipbuilder, the Korea Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of Korea took steps to ensure repayment of the debts, the pension service said in a statement April 16....

April 17, 2017
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