People Power Party lawmaker Park Su-young on the 20th introduced the "national debt transparency disclosure act," which would reveal to the public how much the real government debt is.
Park on the day separately introduced as the lead sponsor amendments to the National Finance Act and to the National Accounting Act that would require the government to manage and release data on the so-called broad national liabilities, or D4, which add public pension provisions to the liabilities of the government and public institutions.
According to figures compiled by Park Su-young's office from government data, as of 2024 the broad national liabilities (D4) total 4,632 trillion won. That sum adds the National Pension unfunded liability of 1,575 trillion won, the military pension provision of 267 trillion won, and the civil service pension provision of 1,052 trillion won to the 2024 "public sector liabilities (D3)" of 1,738 trillion won released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance. It comes to nearly 90 million won per person.
Korea by law places responsibility for pensions on the state. But under current law, public pensions such as the National Pension and the military and civil service pensions, as well as various social insurance programs such as health insurance and employment insurance, manage their fiscal projections under the Framework Act on Social Security and their respective pension-related statutes, so integrated liability management remains insufficient, Park noted.
Through this amendment bill, Park specified the introduction of integrated long-term fiscal projections for social security schemes under the National Finance Act and mandated the preparation of an analysis report on pension provisions within the settlement of account report under the National Accounting Act.
Park said, "The Lee Jae-myung administration is recklessly increasing the national debt and overusing cash-splash 'populism' policies such as distributing livelihood coupons, yet it does not disclose how much the real liabilities of Korea that future generations must bear amount to," adding, "Through the compilation and transparent disclosure of D4, we must properly inform the public of the reality of the national debt, where a baby has to be born with 90 million won of debt."