Editorial: South Korea Could Become the World’s Oldest Country by 2060, So It Must Overhaul Half-Century-Old Systems

South Korea could become the world’s oldest country by 2060. A recent U.S. Census Bureau projection says people aged 65 and over will make up 41% of the population in 34 years, putting the country ahead of Japan, now the world’s oldest society.

The forecast comes only two years after South Korea entered the ranks of super-aged societies, where older people account for more than 20% of the population. If aging continues at this pace, the burden on pensions, healthcare and care services will grow rapidly.

The old-age dependency ratio shows the pressure plainly. Last year, 3.4 working-age people supported one older person. By 2060, the ratio is expected to fall to 1.2 working-age people for every older person.

The editorial argues that South Korea must revise institutions created when the country was much younger. The current definition of an older person, age 65, dates from 1981, when 16 workers supported one older person. The Korean Senior Citizens Association has even suggested raising the threshold to 75.

The national pension, introduced in 1988, was designed on the assumption that the number of young people would continue to grow. Without more realistic contribution rates, the system cannot avoid exhaustion, the editorial says. It points to Japan’s use of extended retirement ages and post-retirement reemployment, as well as Germany’s 67-year pension and retirement thresholds and automatic pension adjustments linked to the dependency ratio. South Korea, it concludes, needs to begin dismantling its aging “time bomb” now.