GOVT. MEASURES AGAINST AGEING SOCIETY

[Anchor Lead]

One of the most challenging tasks that the Korean government is facing is society's rapid ageing. To address this issue, one of the policies the government proposed is the lowering of the minimum age for housing pension subscribers. The eased regulations regarding age and housing prices are expected to allow 1.4 million households to benefit from the housing pension scheme.

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​Seventy-five-year-old Ahn Yong-hee and his wife do not have to worry about their living costs. Four years ago they subscribed to the housing pension with their apartment as collateral. Now they can receive 2.5 million won a month.

[Soundbite] AHN YONG-HEE(HOUSING PENSION SUBSCRIBER) : "I am extremely content with receiving 2.5 million won monthly. I couldn't ask for more."

The new regulation allows people of a younger age to subscribe to the housing pension to prepare for life after retirement. The minimum age of housing pension subscribers has been lowered from 60 to 55, while the maximum price of apartments used as collateral has been changed from 900 million won in market value to the officially assessed price of the same amount. This means that owners of apartments costing 1.3 billion won in market value are also eligible to subscribe to the housing pension. When one of the spouses dies, the other spouse can continue to receive the pension without obtaining consent from the couple's children.

[Soundbite] LEE SOO-YOUNG(FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMISSION) : "The housing pension is expected to strengthen retirement security by allowing subscribers to receive a stable income while still residing in their homes."

The new regulations will go into effect in phases starting early next year. Some 1.4 million more households are expected to benefit from the housing pension, with the total number of subscribers reaching 5.4 million households. However, this is not enough to address the issue of rapid ageing in the nation. As only home-owners are allowed to subscribe to the housing pension, last year the subscription rate was only 1.5 percent. Although the government mandates retirement pension and has increased tax benefits, experts point out that overhauling the national pension scheme, which accounts for only 40 percent of income replacement, is the most urgent task.