benefit of about KRW 200,000 to 70% of the people aged 65 or over is of no significance to the older persons at the lowest poverty level because, in accordance with the subsidiarity principle of the Basic Pension scheme, the pension amount available to these people is offset by the amount of the NBLS benefit offered to them. Questions suggested 35. Older persons in Korea suffer a serious level of poverty. It is of particular concern that their poverty problem began to worsen since 2009. It appears that more workable policy measures need to be in place to ensure stable income in old-age life, including reforms in the existing pension scheme. Please specify the policy measures that is being taken now by the Government in this regard and the directions for future improvement. 36. Please provide detailed statistical data on the spending of older persons in poverty (proportions of housing and medical expenses as percentages of income, etc.). 37. The current maximum amount available under the Basic Pension scheme is not sufficient, in light of the economic development level and consumer prices in the ROK. Please specify the Government‘s plans to improve the Basic Pension scheme, including the plan to raise the Basic Pension benefits. Issue 7: Refugees Current status 38. Under the current conditions that the deliberation for refugee status recognition is a rather long process and the applicants for refugee are forbidden to get employed for six months from the date of application, the support for the applicants’ cost of living is the minimal measure required for their survival. The Government reveals that the refugee status applicants have been offered the support for the cost of living in accordance with Article 40 (Support for the cost of living, etc.) of the Refugee Act which came into force in July 2013. However, no budget was allocated in 2013 for the support to refugee status applicants and it has yet to be confirmed whether the budget amounts allocated to support refugee status applicants since 2014 are sufficient enough to finance their minimum living. 39. According to the data released by the Ministry of Justice, the total number of refugee status applicants in Korea over the period from 1994 to April 2016 was 17,523 and 592 out of them had their application recognized5, and this recognition rate is lower than the world’s average recognition rate of 27%6 stated in the 2014 Report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Consequently, it is feared that a growing number of people might stay in this country without having their refugee status recognized or receiving the minimum support for a life worthy of human beings.7 40. 5 On 25 August 2016, the NHRCK recommended the Ministry of Justice to revise the Refugee Act Over the period from 1994 to April 2016, 17,523 persons applied for refugee status; 592 of them were recognized as refugees; and 932 were allowed to stay in Korea for a humanitarian reason (Monthly Report on Immigration Service and Foreigner Policy of April 2016). 6 7 UNHCR, Statistical Yearbook 2014 ‘NHRCK Chairperson’s Statement on World Refugee Day’ dated 20 June 2016. 10 / 25