Concerns have been growing over the possible exhaustion of the national pension fund. As of the end of February, about 20.18 million people subscribed to the pension service with an accumulated fund of 401 trillion won ($361.9 billion), according to data from the National Pension Service. NPS analysts forecast that, under the current scheme, the pension fund would begin to decrease after peaking at 2,561 trillion won in 2043 and be exhausted by 2060.

That prospect has deepened subscribers’ anxiety, with more than 80 percent of respondents in a recent survey expressing worries that they would be paid less or nothing at all in national pension when they reach the age of receipt. Public skepticism over the potential benefits from the service was amplified early this year amid reports that the ruling party was considering diverting part of the pension fund to finance an entitlement program for all senior citizens aged 65 or older.

The number of subscribers to the national pension service was down by more than 13,000 over the three months since February. All of them were arbitrary subscribers, such as housewives, who are not obliged to join the scheme. But the discontent and anxiety among mandatory subscribers ― all people aged 18-59 with income ― have remained as high or higher.

It is against this background that some have raised the need for the government to guarantee pension payments to help quell the increasing public distrust and ensure the stable management of the service system.

Lawmakers at the parliament’s welfare committee last month passed a bill revising a related law to introduce the measure. But no further legislative process has since been made in the face of objections from Finance Ministry officials and some ruling party legislators, who are worried about the possible negative effects of the proposed measure.

There seems to be a need to pay heed to the argument that the payment guarantee by the government would be a stumbling block to future reforms of the national pension scheme, which should involve higher payments from subscribers, and could lead the NPS to feel less responsible for managing the fund.

The measure could have a negative impact on the country’s sovereign credit rating by adding the pension’s liabilities, which stood at 423 trillion won in 2011, to the already bloated national debt. There may not be so many countries, as claimed by proponents for the measure, where national pension payments are guaranteed by state coffers.

All these arguments, however, cannot cancel out the urgent need to alleviate subscribers’ growing anxiety over the stability of the pension scheme. A practical compromise that could enhance public confidence in the system without causing negative effects might be to ease the clause on the mandatory state guarantee to the effect the government should do its utmost to ensure the payment.