According to Yonhap, South Korea's employed population aged 55 to 79 exceeded 10 million for the first time as the country grapples with rapid population aging, government data showed Wednesday. The number of people in the age group reached 17.02 million as of May, up 570,000 from a year earlier, and 10.36 million were economically active, including 10.13 million employed, up 345,000. The employment rate for the group was 59.5%, and their average length of service rose to 17 years and 7.1 months.

The data from the Ministry of Data and Statistics also showed that 11.78 million people in the age group, or 69.2%, said they wanted to keep working in the future, while the average preferred retirement age was 73.6. Over the past year, 8.97 million people, or 62.7%, received a pension as of May, with an average monthly payment of 880,000 won ($616) per person.