The government will tighten procedures, including the actual residency period requirement, to prevent foreigners from misusing the National Pension system.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare and the National Pension Service said on the 1st that they will improve the additional payment system for foreigners.
The National Pension additional payment system allows people who have a history of paying National Pension premiums in the past to later pay premiums for periods they missed. It is intended to guarantee pension entitlements in unavoidable cases such as for young people, pregnant people, or the unemployed.
Recently, however, there were cases in which foreigners exploited the system by paying the premium only once and then receiving a pension through additional payments. Calls have grown for fixes.
The government revised National Pension Service guidelines to strengthen one of the foreigner additional payment requirements by changing domestic residence period to actual domestic residence period. Previously, the standard was the period of foreigner registration and maintenance of stay status.
From now on, applications for additional payments cannot be made for periods not actually residing in Korea. In addition, foreign subscribers applying for additional payments must submit proof of entry and exit facts in addition to documents proving marital status. In this case, only months in which the domestic residence period is 15 days or more between the month of the entry date on the certificate and the month of the exit date will be recognized as actual residence periods.
The government will also pursue legal revisions so that reciprocity, which has applied only to National Pension enrollment and lump-sum refund payments, can apply to foreigners' additional payments. Additional payments will be allowed for nationals of countries that recognize additional payments for Koreans residing overseas.
In addition, to strengthen oversight of overseas beneficiaries, the number of verification checks, such as confirming whether overseas beneficiaries are alive, will be increased from once a year to twice a year.
Minister Jung Eun-kyeong of the Health and Welfare Ministry said, "Because the National Pension is a system to guarantee retirement income for people residing in Korea, we will make every effort to prevent abuses of the system, such as receiving pensions after a short stay in the country."
Kim Sung-joo, president of the National Pension Service, said, "We will further strengthen post-management for pension recipients by expanding the exchange of death data between countries and shortening the period for entitlement verification checks."