Ruling and Opposition Welfare Committees Hold Emergency Meeting This Afternoon...Focus on Agreement for Basic Data Reform Proposal
Discussion on the Formation of the Pension Reform Special Committee
Possibility of Plenary Session Processing on the 20th Draws Attention
The National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee will hold an emergency meeting on the 19th to discuss the processing of the National Pension parameter reform plan.
According to political circles, in the afternoon, Park Ju-min, Chair of the Welfare Committee, Kim Mi-ae, the People Power Party's secretary of the Welfare Committee, Kang Seon-woo, the Democratic Party's secretary, and Cho Kyu-hong, Minister of Health and Welfare, are scheduled to meet at the National Assembly.
The meeting is expected to address the formation of the National Assembly's Pension Reform Special Committee and the processing of parameter reform plans such as military and childbirth credits. If the ruling and opposition parties reach an agreement on contentious issues, including the formation of the special committee where there have been disagreements, it is expected that the parameter reform plan could be processed at the plenary session as early as the 20th.
On the same day, Kwon Seong-dong, floor leader of the People Power Party, said at a press briefing, "If the Democratic Party clearly intends to agree on pension structural reform, our party is willing to launch the Pension Reform Special Committee even without that sentence," adding, "I hope we can quickly reach an agreement today and accelerate pension reform."
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The ruling and opposition parties have tentatively agreed on a parameter reform plan that raises the contribution rate (amount paid) to 13% and the income replacement rate (amount received) to 43%, but they have been in a tug-of-war over whether to include the phrase "bipartisan agreement" in the special committee formation plan. The People Power Party insists that the phrase "bipartisan agreement" must be included to process the parameter reform plan, while the Democratic Party opposes the insertion of the phrase, arguing that the government and ruling party have repeatedly abused the right to request reconsideration (veto) citing the lack of "bipartisan agreement." The Democratic Party has stated that if discussions continue to stall, it will consider unilaterally processing the agreement based on the draft.
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