Yoon calls for efforts to make progress in major reform agenda

President Yoon Suk Yeol on Monday urged his senior aides to expedite major reform agenda on pensions, health care, education and labor to achieve tangible results by the end of the year, his office said. Yoon stressed the urgency of making progress in reform agenda, saying it is directly related to people's livelihoods, presidential spokesperson Jeong Hye-jeon said in a written briefing. "There is not much time left this year. I want you to speed up reform efforts to produce tangible results within this year," Yoon was quoted as saying. Among the top priorities is medical reform, as a protracted strike by trainee doctors over the government's proposal to increase medical school enrollment shows little sign of resolution. In September, the government proposed raising the pension contribution rate to 13 percent from 9 percent and differentiating the pace of raising the contribution rate by age group, in what would be the biggest overhaul of the pension system in more than two decades. The proposal is subjec t to approval by the National Assembly. Source: Yonhap News Agency