On Wednesday, President Moon Jae-in called for an overhaul of the ministry's draft on reforming the national pension scheme in a way that better reflects people's opinions.

The draft was not made public, but it is believed to have called for lowering the pension's income replacement rate to 40 percent by 2028 from the current 45 percent, while gradually raising insurance premiums to 15 percent from the current 9 percent.

Over the past 10 years, South Korea has jacked up state health insurance premium rates annually, except for 2009 and 2017, with the annualized increase rate averaging 3.2 percent over the period.

In August, South Korea's state pension fund said it is on course to be depleted in 2057 under the existing system amid a low birth rate coupled with sluggish economic growth. (Yonhap)