South Korea Announces Plan to Raise Social Security Spending to OECD Advanced-Nation Levels by 2040

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok said Tuesday the government will expand social security expenditures to the levels of advanced nations by 2040. He made the statement during a meeting of the social security committee at the government complex in Seoul on May 12, 2026.

The purpose of expanding social security expenditures is to deal actively with demographic and other social changes in South Korea, Kim said.

South Korea has steadily expanded social welfare expenditures, but they are still short of the average of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "The government is making efforts to minimize difficulties in people's livelihoods as the prolonged Middle East war makes people's lives harder," Kim said in his opening remarks.

" Kim also said the government will go beyond selective welfare to guarantee welfare for all.

The administration will seek proactive welfare in which the government directly reaches out to those in need rather than an application-based welfare system. "Through the establishment of a stable welfare society, we will lay the foundation for national economic development and establish a virtuous cycle where the fruits of development are returned again for welfare," he said.

Yonhap reported that Prime Minister Kim Min-seok spoke on Tuesday during the meeting of the social security committee.

Under a national crisis it is a must-do thing to newly establish a sustainable social security system and mid- and long-term policy directions, he added.

This includes the government directly reaching out to those in need instead of relying on an application-based system.