For Koreans already worried about the future solvency of the National Pension, reports that foreigners could pay into the system for only a few months, make years of retroactive contributions and qualify for a lifelong pension were bound to be provocative.
One case can be enough to prove a failure. It is not always enough to prove a pattern, especially when it touches a mandatory pension system that millions are required to pay into and whose long-term viability is already under question.
President Lee Jae Myung first raised the issue in late August, questioning whether foreign nationals with only brief periods of residence should be allowed to make extensive retroactive contributions and ordering officials to tighten the rules.
Then came the data.
A government review found only three foreign nationals who matched the much-discussed pattern of one month of contributions followed by 119 months of retroactive payments. Only one is receiving an old-age pension, and all three had lived in Korea throughout the periods covered by those payments.
That did not erase the loophole. It changed the question.
A day after those findings were reported, Lee returned to the issue and said the small number of cases did not alter the principle at stake.
He has a point. Governments should not wait until an unreasonable rule is exploited on a large scale before fixing it.
Pension authorities now appear to be moving in the right direction, reassessing the rule for everyone rather than treating it solely as a problem involving foreign subscribers. They have tightened residence checks for foreign applicants while examining broader changes to the retroactive payment system for Koreans and foreigners alike.
Evidence does not make policy decisions for us. It tells us what problem we are actually trying to solve.
Korea should fix the loophole where it actually lies. A flaw in pension design should be fixed for everyone. A problem with residence verification should be fixed through better verification. Nationality should not become a shortcut for defining the problem.
hnpark@heraldcorp.com
