This year's National Assembly audit turned into a heated debate over the National Pension Service's decision to delay domestic stock rebalancing. The ruling People Power Party accused the government of exerting influence, labeling it a "government-controlled pension," while the opposition Democratic Party and the pension fund defended the move as a rational decision to prevent a market crash.
On October 14, the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee conducted an audit with National Pension Service Chairman Kim Sung-joo and Fund Management Headquarters Director Lee Gi-hong in attendance. The main issue of the audit was the transparency of the decision-making process regarding the fund management committee's adjustments to the target allocation for domestic stocks in January and May, as well as the delay in forced stock sales.
The People Power Party argued that the delay in rebalancing was politically motivated to support the stock market under the current administration. Lawmaker Lee Dal-hee stated, "When President Lee Jae-myung repeatedly mentioned the low investment ratio of the National Pension Service in domestic stocks, the fund management committee changed its investment guidelines in response. The delay in rebalancing allowed foreign investors to sell at high prices, ultimately harming retail investors."
Another lawmaker, Cho Bae-sook, pointed out that the fund management committee includes several government officials, including the Minister of Health and Welfare, making it susceptible to political influence.
People Power Party lawmaker Baek Jong-hun urged the immediate release of the fund management committee's meeting minutes, which are set to be disclosed in 2030, after key witnesses like former Blue House Policy Chief Kim Yong-beom were not called to testify.
Welfare Committee Chairman Lee Man-hee also requested a simulation comparing the returns of the National Pension Service if rebalancing had been executed as planned versus the delay.
In contrast, the Democratic Party defended the delay as a legitimate financial decision aimed at protecting citizens' retirement funds and the domestic stock market. Lawmaker Seo Young-seok argued, "If we had followed the existing rules, we would have had to sell over 800 billion won worth of stocks daily, which would have caused a significant drop in the KOSPI trading volume by 10%. The decision to keep the minutes of meetings regarding potentially market-impacting issues confidential for four years is a legal measure under the law established in 2013."
Democratic Party lawmaker Lee In-young emphasized that the decision was not about additional stock purchases but rather about preventing instability in the market by avoiding forced sales of existing holdings. He stated, "If we had dumped a large volume of stocks, the value of the remaining shares held by the National Pension Service would have also declined, causing self-inflicted losses."
Lawmaker Kwon Chil-seung added that it is inappropriate to criticize the decisions made at the time based solely on the outcomes.
Chairman Kim Sung-joo firmly denied any allegations of external pressure, stating, "At that time, both domestic and international brokerage reports viewed the Korean stock market optimistically, and all members of the fund management committee, regardless of their political affiliations, unanimously agreed on the decision. There has never been a case where the government's requests were simply passed through."
During the afternoon session, lawmakers from both parties criticized the National Pension Service's internal management and gaps in public service. Progressive Party lawmaker Jeon Jong-deok strongly criticized the lack of transparency in the appointment process for executive directors. He noted that eight out of ten recently appointed executive directors, including the pension director and welfare director, were selected based on vague overall evaluations without quantitative assessments of their individual careers, using the same evaluation criteria that had not been revised in 18 years, failing to verify specialized expertise for each position.
Chairman Kim responded that while the process was objective and transparent, he would review whether there are areas for improvement in high-level appointments.
Issues regarding collection management and customer service deficiencies were also raised. Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Kyo-hung pointed out that there are 260,000 high-income individuals, including those driving luxury foreign cars and traveling abroad, who are under special management for unpaid contributions totaling 1 trillion won, with a collection rate of only 20%. He called for strengthened enforcement and improved efficiency.
People Power Party lawmaker Kim Ki-woong criticized the poor service quality of the National Pension Service's 1355 customer center, stating, "The call center response rate has dropped to 81%, and when I called directly, I had to wait for ten minutes, and the consultation was unfriendly. Moreover, the performance indicators for response rates have been quietly removed from institutional evaluations."
Chairman Kim explained that the issues stem from a shortage of 49 staff members compared to the surge in call volume and pledged to improve response rates and service quality through staff reinforcement, better working conditions, and the introduction of AI technology.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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