The Change of Special and Supplementary Pension before and after the Transformation in East Germany: The Scenarios and Way of the Pension Integration for the Privileged after Korean Unification

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate historically how the special and supplementary pensions for the privileged in East Germany had changed, and to draw the potential scenarios and the way of the pension integration regarding the privileged of North Korea after Korean unification. The main findings of this study are as follows: First, 4 special pensions and 61 types of supplementary pensions were abolished and were incorporated into the national pension insurance of the West. Second, the entitlements to special and supplementary pension had been acknowledged to a limited degree in the early days of the united German state, which was then relieved through the legal rulings. Third, there is the pension for people of merit in North Korea and this is the pension for the privileged. Fourth, there are three types of pension integration scenarios for the privileged in North Korea after the unification: privilege succession, eclecticism (German type), and liquidation of the past, and eclecticism can be the most suitable way among the scenarios. If eclecticism is chosen, the pension for people of merit will be abolished and transferred into the national pension system. The flood of protests and lawsuits for the property rights (entitlement) can lead to social costs, it is necessary to prepare for countermeasures.