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The National Pension scheme involves paying a regular portion of your income each month to receive it back later in life. However, there have been cases where foreign nationals enrolled in the National Pension for just a single month and began receiving lifelong pension payouts.

Reporter Jo Yoon-ha takes a closer look at how this is possible.

[Reporter]

A foreign national identified as A entered South Korea on a visit and employment visa and worked domestically for exactly one month.

During this period, they enrolled in the National Pension, and they are now receiving an old-age pension, which is the National Pension, every month.

Behind this phenomenon is the National Pension "retroactive payment" system.

Originally, this system was designed for unemployed workers or homemakers with career gaps.

To receive the National Pension, individuals must pay premiums for a minimum of 10 years, and the system allows them to fulfill this 10-year requirement retroactively so they can receive their pension.

Because this also applies to foreign workers employed in South Korea—excluding those here for study or training purposes—a foreign worker can quit after working for just one month and pay for the remaining 119 months all at once to become eligible for pension benefits.

Since the retroactive payment amount varies depending on salary, if a person's monthly wage was low, paying for 10 years can yield a calculation where the returns received in old age are significantly more lucrative.

This is why people are calling it a foreign national "pension investment hack."

As of 2024, the number of foreign subscribers to the National Pension reached approximately 470,000, and the total retroactive payments made by them exceeded 5.8 billion won.

Looking at past statistics, Chinese nationals accounted for the largest share of foreigners applying for retroactive payments at 67.6%, followed by U.S. nationals at 13.7% and Canadian nationals at 8.4%.

Of course, there are also cases where domestic citizens use the retroactive payment system to gain economic benefits.

There are also many foreign workers who pay their insurance premiums yet fail to receive their pensions.

However, because there are instances of the system being exploited in ways contrary to its original purpose, the Ministry of Health and Welfare stated that it is reviewing measures to improve the retroactive payment system.

(Video editing: Park Choon-bae, Design: Cho Su-in)