Photo : YONHAP News
The head of the Korea Senior Citizens Association plans to ask the government to raise the senior age when social benefits kick in from 65 to 75.
Lee Joong-keun, the association’s 19th president, made the announcement Monday during his inauguration ceremony, noting that the country currently has ten million people over age 65 but will have 20 million by 2050.
The country’s total population is projected to reach 50 million by 2050, he said, including a working-age population of just 20 million people.
The working-age population refers to people between the ages of 20 and 59.
Lee wants the government to gradually raise the age at which a person is considered a senior citizen by one year every year until it reaches 75, which would reduce the population of senior citizens to around 12 million by 2050.
The chairman of Booyoung Group, Lee was elected president of the association in August, having previously served as its 17th president.