The Reform of the Civil Service Pension Programme in Korea: Changes and Continuity

The welfare state in the Republic of Korea (hereafter Korea) has evolved during a period of significant economic development since the 1960s from a simple structure with a minimal number of programmes into a fairly comprehensive system. It has acquired distinctive social policy characteristics, such as “welfare developmentalism”, a policy orientation positioning economic development as a high priority in the arrangement of social policy. The Civil Service Pension Programme is one of its core programmes. Introduced in 1960, the Programme provided pensions for more than 229,000 retired civil servants in 2007 (Ministry of Public Administration and Security 2008).1