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Tripartite Commission Set for Discussion about Enterprise Pension System

Tripartite Commission Set for Discussion about Enterprise Pension System

Posted March. 02, 2002 10:25,   

한국어

A discussion to replace the legal retirement allowance system with the enterprise pension system has surfaced rapidly.

However, the labor side is opposed to annul the retirement allowance all at once.

According to the Ministry of Finance and Economy and the Ministry of Labor, the sub-committee of Economy and Society under the Tripartite Commission decided to review the introduction measures for the enterprise pension system from this month. The sub-committee has carried out a research on the function of the enterprise pension as a welfare of the workers and the comparative studies on the business pension systems of the advanced countries based on the research of the Korean Labor Institute since June last year.

As the overall review was started, the sub-committee is planning to discuss the details of the pension system such as the timetable and the operational methods and the share of contribution, etc.

A related officials of the Ministry of Finance and Economy said that ¡°as the Federation of Korean Industries indicated, the retirement allowance could decrease the liquidity of labor market and the price competitiveness of the business. Observing the discussions of the Ministry of Labor and the Tripartite Commission, we will prepare the measures based on the principle to replace the retirement allowance with the business pension.¡°

Meanwhile, the Federation of Korean Trade Unions (FKTU) expressed its opposition to this plan, arguing that ¡°the retirement allowance is a legal part of the laborer`s wage. If the wages are left in the uncertain capital market, laborers could suffer from serious damages. Particularly, small business may not introduce the pension system even after the annulment of the retirement allowance system with the pretext of the financial hardship.¡°

The Ministry of Labor also maintains its position to consider the introduction of the pension system in a long term.



Jin Lee sanjuck@donga.com · Joong-Hyun Park sanjuck@donga.com