The ruling and opposition parties agreed on the 6th to discuss the introduction of the 'automatic adjustment mechanism' later and to proceed with the primary reforms such as adjusting the insurance premium rate and income replacement rate first. The ruling party took a step back from its position of 'prioritizing the discussion of the automatic adjustment mechanism,' while the opposition party agreed to positively consider adjusting the income replacement rate of the National Pension to '43%', thus finding common ground.
Kweon Seong-dong of the People Power Party and Park Chan-dae of the Democratic Party, the floor leaders, met with reporters after a 3+3 (floor leaders, policy chairperson, floor chief representative) meeting chaired by Speaker Woo Won-sik that afternoon, and confirmed the agreement.
The policy chairperson Jin stated, 'In this process of primary reform, we have agreed not to discuss the automatic adjustment mechanism and to discuss it together with structural reform when the pension special committee is formed,' and added, 'It is better to limit the discussion of primary reform to the insurance rate and income replacement rate.'
This agreement was made as the People Power Party proposed it to the Democratic Party, based on the urgent need for discussions about primary reform. Policy chairperson Kim said, 'We suggested to the Democratic Party that discussions about the automatic adjustment mechanism should take place when the special committee is launched and that we would like to reach a prior agreement on primary reform in this pension law.'
As the ruling party stepped back from introducing the automatic adjustment mechanism to discuss it later in the structural reform process, the differences in opinions between the ruling and opposition parties on adjusting the income replacement rate have been narrowed to a difference of 2 percentage points. Policy chairperson Kim explained, 'I proposed an insurance premium rate of 13% and an income replacement rate of 43%, which the Democratic Party agreed to review.'
Earlier, the ruling and opposition parties tentatively agreed to raise the insurance premium rate from the current 9% to 13%, but they showed differences regarding the increase in income replacement rate and the introduction of the automatic adjustment mechanism. The ruling party claimed to adjust the income replacement rate to 42%-43% on the premise of introducing the automatic adjustment mechanism, which adjusts the regular increase rate of pension amounts based on changes in life expectancy and the number of subscribers. In contrast, the Democratic Party demanded an increase in the income replacement rate to 44%-45% and insisted that if the automatic adjustment mechanism were to be introduced, it must obtain approval from the National Assembly. The government and the ruling party maintained that the opposition should accept the unconditional introduction of the automatic adjustment mechanism for them to review the income replacement rate flexibly.
Regarding the supplementary budget, the government and ruling party plan to present specific positions in future meetings.
Chairman Kim said, 'Since Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok is absent today, we will first consult with the government and arrange for further discussions on timing, scale, and other details later.' Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Strategy and Finance Choi Sang-mok was absent from today's discussions due to objections from the Democratic Party regarding the appointment of Constitutional Court nominee Choi Dae-hyung.
Previously, the ruling and opposition parties came together through the first National Council to agree on three principles (support for people's livelihoods, future industries, and trade) for the supplementary budget formation, but they showed differences regarding its scale and specific items.
In particular, the ruling party argues that they should provide 'targeted support' to small businesses and vulnerable groups in the livelihood support sector. To this end, they suggested ▲expanding credit card cashback ▲a 1 million won energy voucher for each small business ▲prepaid cards of 250,000 to 500,000 won for basic livelihood and lower-income recipients ▲supporting the improvement of outdated facilities and purchase expenses of up to 2 million won for small businesses.
In contrast, the Democratic Party proposed a supplementary budget of a total of 34.7 trillion won. The budget for restoring people's livelihoods also includes consumption coupons for all citizens (13.1 trillion won) and local currency discounts (2 trillion won).
There was no progress on the Semiconductor Special Law on that day either.
While both ruling and opposition parties agree on supporting the semiconductor industry, they are in a standoff over the 'exceptional application of the 52-hour workweek' clause for R&D personnel. The ruling party holds that to enhance the global competitiveness of the domestic semiconductor industry, work-hour regulations should be relaxed only for research positions, while the Democratic Party argues for a cautious approach considering fairness with other industries.
Chairman Jin said, 'We decided to take more time for discussions.' The Democratic Party plans to designate the Semiconductor Special Law as an urgent processing item (fast track) if an agreement is not reached.