Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy Koo Yun-cheol announced that the government will unveil its reform plans for the basic and retirement pensions in the near future.

Presiding over the Emergency Economic Headquarters Meeting and Ministerial Meeting on Economic and Structural Innovation at the Government Complex-Seoul today (the 6th), Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated, "The government will make every effort toward economic structural innovation to rebound the potential growth rate and achieve inclusive growth for all," making this announcement.

Related ministries are currently discussing how to restructure the basic pension, which provides a monthly stipend to the bottom 70% of senior citizens aged 65 and older.

Minister of Planning and Budget Park Hong-keun previously presented a principle to adopt a structure that reduces pensions for those who are well off while providing more support to those in need, using median income as the benchmark.

During the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Koo stated that the government will draw up a "safety net strengthening plan" within the second half of the year to ease livelihood and financial anxieties among vulnerable groups. He added that tailored innovation measures will be established to resolve disparities across sectors such as assets, income, labor, generations, and regions so that the fruits of growth can be shared by everyone.

"We will fundamentally strengthen the competitiveness of our industries so that innovative sectors like second and third semiconductors can emerge," Deputy Prime Minister Koo added. "We will sequentially formulate, announce, and implement industrial upgrading plans for major industries such as steel and petrochemicals, including AI-based manufacturing process innovation and the transition to high-value-added products."

The government will also announce youth employment measures shortly.

These measures are reportedly set to include expanding support systems across all stages of employment and economic activity—ranging from job searching, hiring, entering the workforce, to career growth—along with plans to establish a platform connecting young people with actual jobs.

Deputy Prime Minister Koo explained that the government will train more than 200,000 specialized personnel in advanced and popular fields such as AI by 2030, while promoting the expansion of private and public jobs and nurturing young entrepreneurs, thereby creating over 300,000 jobs.

Regarding recent concerns raised by foreign media about the South Korean stock market, Deputy Prime Minister Koo noted, "The South Korean economy is more solid than ever and is demonstrating unprecedented achievements," adding, "Real and macroeconomic indicators, including growth, exports, inflation, and consumption and business sentiment indices, all continue to show robust trends."

"The government is responding promptly to mitigate stock market volatility, and stock indices have recently shown a stabilizing trend," Deputy Prime Minister Koo said. "We will continue our efforts to structurally improve the constitution of the capital market and foster new industries to make it a more reliable investment destination."

Recently, Bloomberg addressed the volatility of the South Korean stock market in a column titled "South Korea Is Also Becoming a Junk Country."

(Photo: Yonhap News)