On March 16, it was confirmed that the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) included a proposal to extend the retirement age in the draft of its pre-election manifesto, which the party has been preparing to publish in preparation for an early presidential election.

The draft, which was delivered to DPK lawmakers this month by the party’s policy committee, included a proposal to gradually extend the legal retirement age in line with the age at which people start receiving the national pension.

Currently, the legal retirement age is 60, but the age to start receiving the national pension is 63, leaving people with no income for three years after retirement.

The DPK is reportedly considering filling this “income crevasse” by extending the retirement age. Until 2012, the legal retirement age was the same as the starting age for receiving the national pension, so there was no income gap. However, the first pension reform in 1998 created a gap when it was decided to raise the retirement age to 61 from 2013 and increase it by one year every five years thereafter.

The DPK’s proposal to raise the retirement age is the same as labor groups’ argument that the legal retirement age should be increased uniformly without reducing wages. However, the business community's argument that workers should be rehired and their wages adjusted after retirement was also included as a reference.

It also included a plan to extend the retirement age starting with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This reflects the fact that an absolute majority of workers work in private SMEs.

The draft will be reviewed and discussed within the party and may be included in the party’s official election manifesto. Once the party's presidential candidate is chosen, the party’s campaign pledges will be integrated with the candidate's pledges to form the party’s official election manifesto.

The DPK’s strategy is to preemptively focus on issues related to people's livelihoods as an early presidential election becomes more visible.

Jin Sung-joon, head of the DPK’s policy committee, said at a press conference last month, “It is time to start discussing the issue of extending the retirement age in the National Assembly.” The DPK also suggested an idea of establishing a special committee on the retirement age extension to discuss the issue with the ruling People's Power Party (PPP).

On March 12, the DPK’s joint meeting on people’s livelihood and economy, co-chaired by the party leader Lee Jae-myung, also proposed a plan to extend the legal retirement age to 65, in line with the age at which people can start receiving the national pension. The main opposition party plans to set up a task force on raising the retirement age to prepare actual legislation in the second half of this year.