President Yoon Suk Yeol is expected to announce pension reform as early as this week that would expand benefits for conscripts and mothers to reduce the burden on younger generations and ensure the system’s sustainability, a source said Sunday.

“The president will hold a briefing on state affairs this week,” presidential chief of staff Chung Jin-suk said in a high-level policy consultation meeting with the ruling People Power Party. “The president will share with the people his vision and ambition for a key state policy that is directly linked to the country’s plan for long-term prospects.”

The pension reform plan is likely to center on enhancing fairness among generations by easing the financial burden on the younger generation and inducing older generations who will be receiving their pension allowances at an earlier date to pay more.

It also includes securing the system’s sustainability by adjusting payments and allowances in the event the fund is on the verge of drying up, as well as expanding benefits for conscripts and mothers, in a move seen as easing the burden on people in their 20s and 30s.

The health ministry is expected to announce a detailed plan of the pension reform early next month in a follow-up to Yoon’s briefing, which is likely to take place after a parliamentary house steering committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday.

Yoon is also expected to touch on the need to continuously pursue reform in education and labor, such as providing extended education at elementary schools after regular school hours and beefing up support for temporary workers and workers that are not part of labor unions.

His briefing will also likely include measures for medical reform, such as inducing major hospitals to focus on critical patients and strengthening support for health care workers in essential areas. (Yonhap)