"older people will be 75 years old, and old people will be 65 years old"... a change in "old age"

[Anchor]
The expression 'old' is very subjective, but the legal standard age of the elderly is 65.

However, in order to further increase the production population in the age of low birth rate and aging population, discussions are actively underway to raise the base age by 10 years and extend the retirement age to 65.

I'm reporter Lee Jong-gu.

[Reporter]
The topic was raised by the new president of the Korea Senior Citizens' Association.

Chairman Lee Jung-geun, who is also the founder of Booyoung Group, which made headlines by giving 100 million won in childbirth incentives, proposed to the government at the inauguration ceremony to raise the standard age of the elderly from the current 65 to 75.

[Lee Jung-geun / President of the Korea Senior Citizens' Association: In the first year of retirement extension (65 years old), 40% of the peak wage of retirement age is received, and 20% is received even at the age of 75 10 years later, to extend the remaining period of production by 10 years....]

The government responded immediately.

The next day, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a press conference that raising the age of senior citizens is an important issue in enhancing growth potential and deserves careful consideration.

[Han Deok-soo / Prime Minister: How to use the elderly is very important in enhancing our growth potential..]

Currently, the elderly population is 10 million, one-fifth of the total population, but it will increase to 20 million by 2050.

If this happens, the remaining 20 million people, excluding those under the age of 20, will have to be responsible for the welfare of the elderly on a 1:1 basis.

[Jeong Soon-dul/Professor Ewha Womans University (President of the Korean Association of Seniors): It is intended to reduce the burden of support due to securing (production) manpower and caring.]

Raising the standard age of the elderly is linked to an extension of the retirement age.

This requires job development and wage system reform for elderly workers.

[Oh Gye-taek / Senior Researcher at the Korea Labor Institute: In the mid- to long-term, I think we can transform into a labor market where we can work for a long time only when we reorganize the wage system and change wages on a regular basis throughout our lives.]

Social change has already begun.

Following the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Daegu City also announced that it would gradually extend the retirement age of public officials in charge of facility maintenance to up to 65 years old.

[Ahn Jung-gon, Director of Daegu Metropolitan Government Administration: This measure aims to minimize the problem of income cliff caused by the different retirement age and national pension period for civil servants]

A recent survey by the talent recruitment platform "People" found that about 8 out of 10 companies think positively about extending the retirement age due to the use of skills.

However, how to address concerns that it will adversely affect the creation of jobs for young people remains a challenge.

I'm YTN Lee Jong-gu.


Video coverage: Jeong Chul-woo, Ko Min-cheol
VJ: Yoon Yeon
Video editing: Seo Young-mi