Translated by SOORIN KIM(voluntarily activist)
The minimum hourly wage set by the law in Korea in 2011 is 4,320 won. After working 8 hours a day, 6 days a week, and 25 days a month, minimum wage earners are paid only 864,000 won a month. There are workers that are not even paid that much. These temporary employees and shift workers live unstable lives not knowing when they are going to be fired. They work in fast food restaurants and convenient stores having hardly any time to take their breath. They only wish to have a chair to rest on during their meal or break time.
Meanwhile, some people just take 1.2 million won without doing anything. They are former congressmen over 65 years old. People have been questioning this problem of PSROK (The Parliamentarians Society of the Republic of Korea, Hun Jung Hoi) for quite a long time. However, nothing much has been done about it. What should have been done is to constantly criticize the related issues including amendment of the law regarding the pension.
CFOI (Center for Freedom of Information and Transparent Society) filed several FOIA requests on how much the government provides in subsidy for the organization. The center demanded ‘lists of former congressmen receiving the pension and the amount’. The authorities however, revealed only the total amount paid, claiming that the lists of names were private information.
- criteria for the pension : over 65 years old, 1.2 million won a month
* They don't have total amounts given to each of the members, and according to Article 9 Clause 1 of the Freedom of Information Act, such information is classified as private information.
In 2010, the government granted 980 million for the organization itself, and 11.26 for the members. That means that about 12.2 billion won in total was used for PSROK a year. It is said that the government will increase the budget for this organization to 12.5 billion won this year. Isn’t it reasonable for us to be able to know at least who are getting the 1.2 million a month pension funded by tax paid by us?
Whether they have millions and billions won, whether they had committed corruption during their terms, whether they served only one year all don’t matter. These retired congressmen enjoy their huge privilege just because they were ex-congressmen.
The terribly indulgent laws on the organization allow people to work only one day and get the privilege. It’s even fine to get convicted of committing crime, as long as they pay back their sentences. They get 1.2 million won a month whatsoever. What a god blessing job!
If a person gets about 14.4 million won a year, and keeps getting the pension for 15 years, from 65 to 80, the number becomes 200 million won. Doesn’t the public deserve to know who get how much from the tax? It’s bitter to think about the workers out there everyday, fighting against temporary employment, low minimum wage, and terrible working environment.
original Korean version of this post and attached files