Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ross_Plus]

Chaps,

Does anyone know what the current score is with payment onto the korean pension fund when one returns back to the UK. From my understanding although we are not eligible for a pension refund the UK does have a reciprocal agreement with South Korea. I believe that this means any contributions to the Korean national pension counts towards the contributions to our national insurance/state pension.

Does anyone have a definitive answer to this?

Cheers

[Capo]

seen this question raised many times but no concrete answers i think it is a mystery to everyone

[maingman]

aany good?


http://ukinkorea.fco.gov.uk/en

[hiu254]

I worked for the DWP before I came here, and the answer is, sadly, no. When you return to the UK you will have a letter asking why you haven't been paying your NI etc, and unless you can prove you've been in full time education (or have another good excuse) then you will have to stump up a few hundred quid to cover it, or just write off the time you spent here. You need 30 complete tax years to get your state pension, and as long as you still have a British passport you will obviously still be entitled to NHS health care etc. Depending on how long you have been here, I'd say that you'd be better off just writing off the time spent here, as the bill will very clearly state that you do not have to pay.

Chances are you'll clock up more than your thirty years paying tax and if not then make sure you have a decent private pension and you'll be laughing.

The full basic State Pension is �90.70 a week for a single person and �145.05 a week for a couple, so you won't be losing out too badly if you don't make up the full thirty years.

Check the directgov website for more info!

Hope this helps

[mick]

I've been in Korea for 3 1/2 years now and even although I've been paying into the pension, know I won't be able to claim any of it back. I've also been paying taxes. The thing is, I never applied for non-residency from the UK and may go back to study and work this year. Will the tax office come looking for a huge wod of cash when I do start working in the UK again?

[Whistleblower]

You can contact the government to request to make voluntary National Insurance contributions during your time in Korea. This will allow you to receive a pension once you hit retirement in the UK.

Remember that you should be willing to pay your National Insurance contributions and make voluntary payments. Furthermore, the National Pension Service in Korea transfer your contributions to the UK so make sure you receive a certificate detailing your contributions in Korea so that you can ensure your entitlement is deserved upon your arrival in the UK.

Hope that helps.