Seoul: Acting President Choi Sang-mok on Tuesday called for measures to stabilize housing and consumer prices following recent hikes. "I ask related ministries to closely monitor the housing market and come up with response measures at an appropriate time," Choi said in a Cabinet meeting, noting concerns are growing over the recent rise in consumer and real estate prices.
According to Yonhap News Agency, home prices in Seoul jumped 0.18 percent in February from a month earlier, posting the steepest growth in three months, following the recent lifting of the land transaction permission system in some areas of the capital city, as per data from the Korea Real Estate Board.
On the push to reform the national pension system, Choi said he welcomes the compromise reached between the rival parties and called for further discussions on measures to improve the sustainability of the pension system. Last week, the main opposition Democratic Party accepted a proposal by the government and the ruling party on the nominal income replacement rate of pension reform plans, making a key concession that could help reform the ailing pension system.
Adjusting the nominal income replacement rate, which indicates the proportion of pre-retirement monthly wages covered by the pension, was one of the major sticking points for the proposed pension reform. The government and the ruling People Power Party (PPP) have called for the rate to be at 43 percent, while the DP, which holds a majority in the National Assembly, had demanded 44 percent.
In the Cabinet meeting, Choi also urged efforts to prevent the spread of foot-and-mouth disease, which recently broke out at eight beef cattle farms in the South Jeolla Province.