May 2025
19May

South Korea. Targeting young voters, pension reform emerges as major policy issue

This year, Korea implemented its first structural pension reform in 18 years. Yet, frustration persists among younger generations, as they are expected to pay more but receive less compared to older generations. With a clear aim of appealing to these younger voters, presidential candidates are unveiling a range of additional reform proposals. The most radical proposal comes from the minor conservative Reform Party. Its candidate, Lee Jun-seok — the youngest among the presidential hopefuls — has unveiled a plan to establish...

May 19, 2025
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April 2025
08Apr

South Korea’s National Pension Service Eyes Blockchain for $890B Fund’s Transactions

South Korea’s National Pension Service (NPS), which manages 1,224 trillion won ($836 billion) in assets, plans to look at how a blockchain could be used in its fund transaction systems. The organization is weighing a shift to blockchain technology to boost transparency and security in managing its deposits, withdrawals and investments, according to Seoul Economic Daily, which cited industry sources. The NPS plans to begin a preliminary disclosure process, inviting blockchain experts and companies to weigh in before formally launching the initiative, the news...

April 8, 2025
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02Apr

South Korea. Low birth rate’s far-reaching impact: Sustainability of teacher pensions under threat

The impact of South Korea’s demographic crisis is far-reaching, with one lesser-known consequence being the threat to the sustainability of the teachers' pension system. As the school-age population shrinks and schools close, teachers are losing their jobs and becoming legally eligible for pension payouts much earlier than expected — sometimes as early as their 30s. According to data released by the National Assembly Budget Office, 410 pension recipients became eligible prematurely due to school closures as of 2024. Among them, individuals...

April 2, 2025
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March 2025
20Mar

South Korea approves reforms to shore up $830 bln state pension fund

South Korea's parliament on Thursday passed a bill to reform the country's $830 billion pension fund and delay the depletion of the state fund that has been on track to run out by the mid-2050s due to a rapidly ageing population. The bill's passage marks the first time parliament has agreed to a major shake-up in the state pension fund in 18 years and could delay depletion by 15 years. Under the legislative amendment, contributions and payouts will rise, the former...

March 20, 2025
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13Mar

South Korea’s NPS pivots to sustainability, dials up risks in the portfolio

South Korea state pension fund National Pension Service (NPS) has delivered a new return record in 2024 driven by US tech stocks’ relentless rally, while its investments in global fixed income and alternatives also posted double-digit returns. This year, the world’s third-largest pension fund is gearing up to reduce coal investments to promote sustainability in the portfolio, and target riskier assets to ensure sustainability in funding. NPS announced a 15 per cent return on a money-weighted basis in 2024, which was...

March 13, 2025
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04Mar

South Korea’s birthrate rebounds, but is it sustainable?

After nearly a decade of birth rates in steady decline, South Korea reversed that trend to report a significant uptick in newborns in 2024. Announced by the government-run Statistics Korea agency on February 26, a total of 238,300 babies were born last year, up 3.6% from a record low of just 230,000 in 2023. And while the increase is certainly grounds for celebration in a nation that is recognized as one of the most rapidly contracting and aging in the world, analysts caution that...

March 4, 2025
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February 2025
27Feb

South Korea’s fertility rate increases for first time in nine years amid marriage surge

South Korea’s birthrate rose for the first time in nearly a decade, preliminary data showed Wednesday, raising hopes that the country has started to turn a corner on its demographic crisis. The average number of babies per woman increased from 0.72 in 2023 to 0.75 last year, still the lowest in the world and far below the replacement rate of 2.1. SIGNALS Birthrate supported by surge in marriages after government measures A spike in marriages post-pandemic may be one factor driving the increase...

February 27, 2025
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12Feb

Poverty hits older adults harder in fast-aging society

Kim Young-soon, an office cleaner in her early 70s, says she grapples with high costs of living as her disposable income has been decreasing in recent years. Disposable income refers to the amount of money that is left for personal expenses and savings, after taxes, insurance, interest and other payments. “The employer would not hike my salaries, due to the high vacancy rate of office buildings amid the sluggish economic growth,” Kim said, adding she is financially distressed with high borrowing...

February 12, 2025
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11Feb

South Korea. Concerns grow over sustainability of national pension fund amid decreasing subscribers

The number of national pension subscribers continues to decline due mainly to the low birthrate and aging population, data from the National Pension Service (NPS) showed Sunday, raising concerns over its sustainability. In contrast, the number of recipients is increasing, pushing the current national pension system toward a risk of fund depletion. But discussions on ways to make the pension system more sustainable have been delayed. According to the NPS, the total number of national pension subscribers stood approximately at 21.81...

February 11, 2025
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December 2024
10Dec

South Korea. Number of newlyweds falls below 1 mil. in 2023, nearly half childless

The number of newly married couples in Korea dropped below 1 million for the first time in 2023, with nearly half without children, data showed Tuesday. Newlyweds refer to couples who had been married for five years or less. In 2023, the number came to 974,000, down from 1.03 million the previous year, according to the data from Statistics Korea. This marks the first time the number of newlyweds has fallen below 1 million since the agency began collecting relevant data in...

December 10, 2024
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