SEOUL: President Yoon Suk Yeol has called on his senior aides to accelerate efforts on a major reform agenda encompassing pensions, health care, education, and labor, with a goal of achieving significant progress by the end of the year, according to his office. Yoon emphasized the critical importance of these reforms, noting their direct impact on citizens’ daily lives.
According to Yonhap News Agency, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon conveyed in a written briefing that Yoon addressed the urgency of these reforms, urging his aides to expedite processes to deliver concrete outcomes within the current year. “There is not much time left this year. I want you to speed up reform efforts to produce tangible results within this year,” Yoon reportedly stated.
The agenda’s pressing issues include medical reform, highlighted by an ongoing strike by trainee doctors in response to the government’s proposal to increase medical school enrollment. The strike has persisted with no immediate resolution in sight.
In
addition to health care reform, the government has proposed significant changes to the pension system, suggesting an increase in the pension contribution rate from 9 percent to 13 percent. This plan includes a strategy to vary the contribution rate increases by age group, marking the most substantial pension system overhaul in over two decades. The proposal is currently awaiting approval from the National Assembly.