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DP pushes to increase retirement age to 65, aims to finalize bill this year

Published: 07 Dec. 2025, 18:51

Rep. Mo Gyeong-jong, leader of the Democratic Party's Youth Task Force under the Special Committee on Retirement Age Extension holds an opening ceremony at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Dec. 3. [NEWS1]

The Democratic Party (DP) is accelerating its push to pass legislation extending the retirement age to 65, aiming to finalize the bill within the year.

The DP’s Special Committee on Retirement Age Extension, chaired by Rep. So Byung-hoon, will hold a meeting on Tuesday to finalize its proposal on extending the retirement age and rehiring after retirement. In its Tuesday meeting, the committee presented three options to labor and business groups for rehiring after retirement: extending the retirement age by one year every two years from 2028 to 2036, by one year every two to three years from 2029 to 2039, or by one year every three years from 2029 to 2041.

"The party will try to pass the legislation within the year," said a DP lawmaker on the committee. "Although the bill may not pass the Environment and Labor Committee and the Legislation and Judiciary Committee until early next year, it will at least be introduced before the end of this year." DP Chair Rep. Jung Chung-rae also said on Nov. 25 that extending the retirement age is "no longer a choice but a necessary task."

The DP is pushing the legislation forward in part due to overwhelming public support. A National Barometer Survey conducted by Embrain Public, Kstat Research, Korea Research and Hankook Research from Nov. 24 to 26 through phone interviews with 1,003 eligible voters nationwide found that 79 percent supported gradually raising the legal retirement age from 60 to 65 — a significant number compared to the 18 percent who were opposed to the idea and 3 percent who said they were undecided on the issue.

Support was high not only among DP supporters, at 87 percent, but also among People Power Party supporters, at 71 percent. By age, support sat at 74 percent for those in their 60s, 76 percent for those in their 30s and 77 percent for those in their 20s. For all other groups, support exceeded 80 percent.

"The broad public consensus leaves no choice but to pursue the reform," said a DP member of the Environment and Labor Committee.

However, some expect that reaching an agreement at the working level will be difficult. Because labor and business are so far apart, finding a compromise acceptable to both sides will not be easy.

A jobseeker looks at notices at a job center in Mapo District, western Seoul, on Feb. 19. [NEWS1]

"The business sector fundamentally opposes a retirement age extension," said a representative from the Korea Enterprises Federation. "A more realistic solution would be reemployment after retirement at 60 to 70 percent of prior wages."

"The [DP’s] original promise was to extend the retirement age to 65 by 2033, but the proposed compromises range from three to eight years later than the agreed-upon timeline," said a representative from the Federation of Korean Trade Unions. "There has even been talk of a general strike internally. The gap in positions makes an agreement unlikely."

Within the DP as well, the issue is divisive due to its major economic impact. "The reform should not be pushed through unilaterally like judicial reform," said one member of the special committee.

Intergenerational tension is also emerging as a key variable. On Wednesday, the DP launched a Youth Task Force under the special committee.

"There are concerns that extending the retirement age will reduce youth employment and delay promotions, and that the reform must not become a zero-sum game between generations," said Rep. Mo Gyeong-jong, who leads the task force.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY HAN YEONG-IK, LEE CHAN-KYU [[email protected]]