Student handout — Discussion & Debate
Korea's Push to Raise the Retirement Age to 65 Divides the Room
Should Korea Raise the Retirement Age to 65?
Background: Korea's legal retirement age is currently 60. The national pension age is rising in stages to 65 by 2033. That gap — retired but not yet receiving a pension — is the center of the debate.
Vocabulary
- retirement age — the age a company can require you to stop working
- pension eligibility — the age you're legally allowed to start collecting your pension
- wage-peak system (임금피크제 — imgeum-pikeuje) — a deal where pay drops in exchange for staying employed longer
- elderly poverty rate — how many older people live below the poverty line
Discussion questions
- Should the retirement age and pension age always match? Why or why not?
- Who loses more from delaying retirement: young job-seekers or older workers?
- Is 65 the right number, or should it depend on the job?
- Would you want to work until 65? What would change your answer?
Debate roles
- Team A: Argue FOR raising the retirement age to 65.
- Team B: Argue AGAINST raising the retirement age to 65.