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