Monthly pension for elderly S. Koreans far below minimum living cost

SEOUL, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) — The monthly pension for elderly South Koreans stayed far below the minimum cost of living in 2022, statistical office data showed Thursday.
The elderly aged 65 and above received a combined pension of 650,000 won (486 U.S. dollars) per month on average in 2022, up 8.3 percent compared to the previous year, according to Statistics Korea.
According to the National Pension Research Institute estimate, it was far below the minimum living expense of 1,243,000 won per month required for the age group.
The number of elderly people receiving any pension totaled 8,182,000 in 2022, up from 7,768,000 in the prior year.
It accounted for 90.4 percent of the total population for the age group, continuing to grow since 2016.
Of the total recipients, 40.4 percent got a monthly pension of between 250,000 won and 500,000 won, followed by 27.5 percent taking 500,000 won to 1 million won and 19.9 percent obtaining less than 250,000 won.
Among those aged 18-59, 80.2 percent held at least one pension program, paying a monthly average premium of 318,000 won. (1 U.S. dollar = 1,335.65 won) ■