finally the republic of korea undertook extensive pension reforms extended mandatory severancepay plans to firms with five or fewer workers increased childcare benefits and a lumpsum grant on birth and set up an electronic information system for collecting social security contributions they experienced growing intergenerational tensions as the payasyougo schemes relied on current pensions being supported by current workers who would then receive a lower pension due to the shortfall in contributions when they reached retirement age this experience suggests that it is critical to start early to implement and sustain reforms in order to avoid abrupt adjustments and massive buildups of debt