President Park Geun-hye called on officials Monday to put utmost efforts to complete the passage of the public pension reform bill within this year, despite the strong opposition from civil servants.

“I understand that the public pension reform is a difficult and painful task and that it requires sacrifice once again for public servants who have been making commitments to the country,” said Park during a weekly meeting with Cabinet members.

“But the (financial) burden would grow more if we delay the reform plan. The government should put efforts to have (the passage of the bill) completed this year,” she added.

It was the first time that Park made a public remark on the public pension reform bill, a hot-button issue that is roiling the civil servants.

Park’s remark came a day after the ruling Saenuri Party unveiled its pension reform plan, which aims to increase the age of the eligible pension recipients to 65 from the current 60. The draft also calls for raising the proportion of contribution from 7 percent of the salary to 10 percent.

At present, retired public servants start receiving pensions at age 60, while the majority of Koreans begin receiving payments at age 65 under the National Pension Scheme.

The Korean government is injecting a huge amount of public funds each year to bolster the pension system for public officials, a slippery slope that officials warn could deplete the pension reserves, unless a drastic overhaul is implemented.

Cheong Wa Dae has reportedly been orchestrating the reform plan but requested the ruling Saenuri Party to devise the bill and to submit the motion later on, as it takes shorter time than if the government proposes a bill.

The president also urged officials to devise comprehensive measures to root out corruption in the defense industry and to ensure the safety of medical workers to be sent to Ebola-hit African countries next month.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)