Park calls for compromise on labor, pension reforms

President Park Geun-hye on Tuesday called on task force officials to produce compromise deals to reform South Korea's civil service pensions and rigid labor market.

"I hope that everyone can help in laying the foundation for the future of our country," Park said in a regular meeting with her top aides at the presidential office.

Park's appeal is not new, but the latest one comes amid looming deadlines for two separate task forces to come up with compromise deals on civil service pensions and the labor market.

"I request that compromise deals could be produced within the promised deadlines," Park said, saying that people are calling for reforms that could relieve them and their future generations of their burdens.

A task force meant to forge people's consensus on how to reform civil service pensions is required to submit a reform plan to a special parliamentary committee handling the issue by Saturday.

The case for pension reform for public servants has gained urgency as the increasing average life expectancy for Koreans could further deepen the pension deficit.

South Korea has faced the looming crisis as previous governments delayed addressing the issue of pensions for civil servants, despite being aware for decades that the current pension plan is not sustainable.

Also Tuesday, Prime Minister Lee Wan-koo called on Cabinet ministers to strengthen efforts to ensure the task force produces a compromise deal by Saturday

Separately, a tripartite committee composed of officials of labor, management and the government is also set to come up with a compromise deal by the end of this month to reform the labor market.

Park called for a quick overhaul of pending labor issues, including a wage peak system and an extension of the retirement age. She said labor reform is a key to job creation, especially for young people.

One of the key issues of South Korea's labor market is a divide between regular workers and non-regular workers.

Critics say regular workers are being overprotected, a development that causes some companies to shun recruitment and instead rely on non-regular workers that they can fire more easily.

Last month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, a group of 34 mostly rich nations, said South Korea needs to break down its labor market duality to boost productivity and encourage more female employment.

Labor market duality refers to the difference in pay and job security between regular and non-regular workers in the country. (Yonhap)