The ruling party leader Thursday appealed for a swift passage of a civil servant pension reform bill amid growing resistance from the opposition bloc and unionized public workers.

 The government and the ruling Saenuri Party have been pushing to restructure the loss-making pension system for public employees.

The pension reduction plan, however, was bitterly resisted by the labor union of civil servants and opposition parties.

"The reform of the civil servant pension system is a task of our time that can no longer be postponed," Kim Moo-sung said in a statement. "If this cannot be sealed this time, the Republic of Korea has no future."

The ruling party aims to pass the pension reform bill through the National Assembly before the on-going extra session ends in early May.

But the pension drive was largely overshadowed by a bribery scandal involving high-profile ruling party lawmakers as well as former and incumbent senior secretaries to President Park Geun-hye.

"As the ruling and opposition parties have agreed, (the bill) should be processed without fail on the last day of the extra National Assembly session on May 6," Kim noted.

Taxpayers will be forced to make up for the deficit if the pension system is not revised, he said, adding, "it's time for the National Assembly to speak up for citizens."

Enraged by the reform bid, the umbrella labor union of government employees is seeking to stage a general strike for two days starting on April 30. (Yonhap)