The Government is Seamlessly Advancing Healthcare and Pension Reforms for Future Generations and Strengthening Welfare for the Weak

- Major achievements and future plans in the health and welfare sectors under the Yoon administration -

The Ministry of Health and Welfare (Minister Cho KyooHong) has announced the Yoon Suk Yeol administration's major achievements in health and welfare, as well as its future plans, marking the halfway point of its term. Since its launch, the Yoon administration has consistently delivered on five core tasks: healthcare reform, pension reform, addressing low birth rates, welfare for the weak, and advancements in bio and digital health.

The key achievements over the past two and a half years are as follows:

1. Healthcare Reform to Strengthen Essential and Regional Medical Services

？？ Reform of payment systems, including the introduction of policy-driven fees to ensure coverage for essential and regional healthcare services

？？ Investment of KRW 1.2 trillion in essential healthcare services, including critical and emergency care, with a planned increase to KRW 10 trillion by 2028

？？ Expansion of medical school admissions by 1,509 students for the first time in 27 years (from 3,058 to 4,567 students)

？？ Institutionalization of a Physician Assistant Nurse system through the enactment of the Nursing Act

？？ Strengthening of emergency medical transport and transfer systems, including the introduction of regional emergency medical command centers

？？ Transition of tertiary hospitals toward a focus on intensive care (with participation from 31 tertiary hospitals)

2. National Pension Reform for All

？？ Development of a unified pension reform plan for the first time in 21 years (increasing the insurance premium rate from 9% to 13% and the nominal income replacement rate from 40% to 42%)

？？ Improvement in management returns on the National Pension Fund (from -8.22% in 2022 to 13.59% in 2023)

？？ Gradual increase of Basic Pension to KRW 400,000 by 2027

3. Intensified Efforts to Reverse the Decline in Birth Rates

？？ July (7.9%) and August (5.9%) of this year showed consecutive increases in birth rates compared to the same months last year

？？ Expanded support for infertility treatments (from 21 treatments per couple to 25 per birth), reduced co-payment for those aged 45 and above to 30%, and eliminated income and age restrictions for local government infertility support programs

4. Enhanced and More Inclusive Welfare for the Weak

？？ Record-high increase in the standard median income for three consecutive years (5.47% in 2023, 6.09% in 2024, and a projected 6.42% in 2025); raising the eligibility criteria for basic livelihood assistance from 30% to 32%

？？ Surpassing 1 million senior job placements (845,000 in 2022, 1.03 million in 2024, and a projected 1.1 million in 2025)

？？ Implementation of birth notification and protected birth systems (70,330 birth notifications, 567 cases of support, and 33 applications for protected births)

5. Fostering Next-Generation Bio and Digital Health Industries

？？ Establishment of a mission-driven R&D system (Korean ARPA-H with KRW 1.16 trillion over nine years) and innovative R&D investments to secure top-tier technology

？？ Amendment of the Act on the Safety of and Support for Advanced Regenerative Medicine and Advanced Biological Products to improve access to advanced healthcare (February 2024)

？？ Creation of a new global bio market, the launch of the Biohealth Innovation Committee (December 2023)

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