Press Releases
Ministry of Health and Welfare
Nov 28,2025
The National Pension Fund Management Committee (Chair: Jeong Eun Kyeong, Minister of Health and Welfare) convened its sixth meeting of 2025 on Monday, November 24, at 2 p.m. at Government Complex Seoul. At the meeting, the Committee deliberated on and approved the proposed revisions to the 2025 National Pension Fund Management Plan, and received a report on measures to strengthen stewardship activities for domestic equities, followed by a discussion among members.
To ensure stable benefit payments this year, the Committee reviewed and approved revisions to the National Pension Fund Management Plan to secure an additional KRW 1.25 trillion in the relevant budget. As a result, the total budget for National Pension Benefit Payments for 2025 will increase from KRW 48.41 trillion to KRW 49.66 trillion. This increase is largely driven by a rise in new beneficiaries leveraging retroactive payment and voluntary continued coverage to secure longer contribution periods.
The Committee also received a report on the Measures to Strengthen Stewardship Activities* for Domestic Equities, including responsible investment and the exercise of shareholder rights related to industrial safety. Members exchanged views on ensuring that the National Pension Service (NPS), as a fiduciary, appropriately considers how industrial safety risks―including serious accidents―affect the long-term value of investee companies.
* Stewardship activities refer to the responsibilities of the fiduciary entrusted with managing and operating the National Pension Fund to achieve long-term and stable profit growth. These activities involve considering financial elements in the investment decision-making, as well as non-financial factors such as environmental (E), social (S), and governance (G).
※ This initiative follows the joint ministerial Comprehensive Plan for Work Safety announced on September 15.
The primary measures involve improving the ESG assessment* framework so that serious industrial accidents and related incidents are fully reflected in investment decisions. Under the current system, point deductions apply only to companies designated as having frequent industrial accidents. Under the revised framework, the deduction criteria will expand to include cases with two or more fatalities in a year, serious industrial accidents, and the concealment or failure to report occupational accidents. Additionally, the deduction applied for a single serious incident―such as a fatality―will increase from 10 percent of the relevant score to 33 percent.
* The NPS Fund Management evaluates domestic listed companies using 61 indicators related to environment (E), social (S), and governance (G), as well as incident occurrence, and incorporates the results into investment decisions.
※ ① Indicators:(Current) Workplaces with high industrial accident rates (workplaces where the fatal accident rate per 10,000 workers exceeds the average for the same size and industry)→ (Revised) Workplaces with high industrial accident rates; workplaces with two or more fatalities; workplaces with serious industrial accidents such as hazardous material leaks or fires/explosions; workplaces with confirmed violations of the Industrial Safety and Health Act for concealing occupational accidents or failing to report them more than twice in the past three years (i.e., workplaces subject to public disclosure for violating the Ministry of Employment and Labor's industrial accident prevention measures).
② Point deduction:(Current) 10% deduction from the industrial safety score per incident → (Revised) 33% deduction from the industrial safety score per incident.
Minister Jeong Eun Kyeong stated, "We will continue to monitor and refine the implementation process to help enhance corporate value and fund returns through stewardship activities addressing industrial safety risks, including serious accidents."
- END -