Korea limits foreign nationals’ retroactive pension contributions to periods of actual residence
Under new guidelines, foreign nationals will be able to make retroactive pension contributions only up to the amount of time they actually spent living in Korea.
A person enters the National Pension Service's headquarters in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on April 8.NEWS1
The government will tighten rules on retroactive pension contributions to prevent foreign nationals from qualifying for old-age pensions through large retroactive payments after only a brief period of work in Korea.
Foreign nationals will now be allowed to make retroactive contributions only for past periods they were actually living in Korea, under new rules announced by the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Pension Service (NPS) on Tuesday.
To do so, the government will tighten the criteria used to determine how long a foreign national has actually lived in Korea, one of the requirements for making retroactive contributions.
Until now, the NPS determined whether foreign nationals were living in Korea based on their foreign resident registration and the periods during which they maintained valid immigration status. But under revised guidelines, only periods when they were actually in Korea will count as periods of residence.
Foreign nationals applying to make retroactive contributions will be required to submit official immigration records showing their entries into and departures from Korea, along with documents proving their marital status.
Each month will count as a period of actual residence only if the applicant spent at least 15 days in Korea.
The changes come after reports of foreign nationals, particularly ethnic Koreans from China, qualifying for old-age pensions after working in Korea for only a short period. Some reportedly worked and contributed for as little as one month before using retroactive contributions to reach the 120-month minimum required to qualify for an old-age pension.
A citizen consults with a worker at the National Pension Service's Seoul northern regional headquarters in Seodaemun District, western Seoul, on March 18.NEWS1
The government also plans to apply the principle of reciprocity.
Reciprocity between countries currently applies to national pension enrollment and lump-sum refunds, but there are no separate reciprocity rules for retroactive contributions. A lump-sum refund allows eligible foreign nationals who leave Korea or reach pension eligibility age without meeting the minimum contribution period to reclaim their contributions.
The Health Ministry plans to amend relevant laws and regulations so that retroactive national pension contributions are available only to nationals of countries that offer Koreans living there the same option under comparable pension systems.
The government will also strengthen oversight of national pension recipients living overseas.
It plans to increase checks on whether overseas recipients are still alive from once to twice a year. It will also introduce additional safeguards across the national pension system, including for dependent pension benefits.
“The national pension is intended to provide retirement income for people living in Korea, and we will make sure the system is not abused by people who live here only briefly but still qualify for pension benefits,” Health Minister Jeong Eun-kyeong said.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
