Preventing Foreign Nationals from Exploiting Pension Loopholes After Working Just One Month

Recently, the loophole in the National Pension system allowing foreign nationals to receive pensions for life after working for just one month became a controversy. Is the government stepping in to revise the system?

Yes. Moving forward, foreign nationals will only be able to make retroactive National Pension premium payments for the periods they actually resided in South Korea.

Previously, residency was determined based on the periods during which foreign registration and legal status of stay were maintained.

Going forward, immigration records will be checked, and a specific month will only be recognized as an actual residence period if the individual stayed in the country for 15 days or more during that month.

Previously, calls for systemic improvement grew as there was an increase in cases where certain foreign nationals worked briefly in Korea, joined the pension scheme, made retroactive payments to meet the 120-month subscription requirement needed to receive pensions, and subsequently received lifetime pensions.

The government has also decided to introduce the principle of reciprocity, pushing forward with a plan to allow retroactive National Pension payments only to nationals of countries that permit similar retroactive pension payments for South Korean citizens.

In addition, the government plans to tighten management by increasing the frequency of verifying the survival of pension beneficiaries living overseas from once a year to twice a year.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.