Visiting a National Pension Service Branch... "Strengthening Payment, Income, and Sustainability is the Core of Reform"

To understand the actual field operations of the National Pension and the direction of the recently discussed pension reform, a visit was made to a National Pension Service branch. According to a National Pension TV video, the 18th National Pension University Student Ambassadors (hereinafter referred to as Ambassadors) performed a mission to visit the National Pension Service Guro-Geumcheon Branch to directly verify the branch's major tasks and the necessity of pension reform.

From Subscriber Counseling to Beneficiary Payments... The Reality of Branch Operations

The National Pension Service branch visited by the Ambassadors was more than just a place that pays out pensions; it was a site where various administrative services, such as insurance premium counseling for subscribers and responding to civil complaints, take place. In the video, the Ambassadors visited the civil service center to understand the tasks of insurance premium counseling and responding to complainants. In particular, it was observed that even young subscribers can receive counseling through reservations, and consultations are being conducted to predict their pension payment history and the pension amount they can receive in the future.

According to an explanation from a field official, the management scale of the Guro-Geumcheon Branch is considerable. The number of subscribers paying insurance premiums within the jurisdiction of this branch reaches approximately 384,000, and the number of beneficiaries receiving pensions every month is approximately 14,000 based on the jurisdiction of the Guro-gu Office. The branch performs the task of levying and collecting insurance premiums for them, while simultaneously playing the role of stably paying pensions to beneficiaries every month.

"The Purpose is to Strengthen Payment Guarantees, Income Guarantees, and Sustainability"... The Direction of Pension Reform

Regarding 'pension reform,' one of the core themes of this video, the branch manager presented three key objectives. The branch manager appearing in the video summarized the purpose of this reform as: ▲Strengthening payment guarantees at the national level ▲Strengthening old-age income security through adjustment of the income replacement rate ▲Strengthening sustainability by delaying the depletion of the fund.

Particularly regarding the strengthening of sustainability, the branch manager explained, "In a consequential sense, there was a part about delaying the depletion timing of the fund and making that period longer." He added, "This is not the end, and in order for the National Pension to be reborn as a system that can be enjoyed together with future generations, structural reform must continue in this direction." This suggests that it is an essential process to ensure the permanence of the system, going beyond simply raising insurance premiums.

Through the field experience, the Ambassadors examined major contents included in the reform plan, such as credit expansion (childbirth, military service, etc.), changes in the income replacement rate, and the support system for first-time pension insurance premiums, confirming that the reform is being discussed across various levels encompassing both the youth and middle-aged populations.