Korean Job Discussion Forums

[garykasparov]

04-04-2008 19:11

Foreigners Criticize National Pension

By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter

Many foreigners complain that they cannot have their national pension premium refunded when they leave the country.

Yang Tsung-sheng, executive vice president of the Chinese Resident's Association, said many Chinese people are unhappy with the system. ``If you work in Korea as an independent businessman, you cannot get the refund unless you have stayed here for 10 years,'' he said.

``Some people call me from Taiwan because they want to get their premium back even after they have left the country. They say it's a large amount of money,'' he added.

By law, everyone conducting business or working here has to contribute to a national pension fund.

However, the pension is only refunded to those who have made payments for more than 10 years.

Since the pension in principle does not allow lump sum refunds, they are difficult to obtain. Korean subscribers emigrating overseas can have their pension refunded.

In addition to The United States, France, Germany, Canada and Hungary have signed special social security pacts and nationals from 29 countries such as Turkey or India can have their pension premiums refunded. For the past two decades since the system has been in effect, 67,429 people have had their payments refunded.

The National Pension Service said it is a matter of reciprocity. Koreans overseas cannot get pension premiums refunded in countries with which Korea has not signed a social security pact.
``It is the same with every country. If we just give away the pensions, then it is a loss for Korea,'' Choi Seong-baek of the NPS said.

He added that Korea is always in the red in the area since fewer Koreans abroad than foreigners in Korea get their pension refunds.

But the policy appears unfair for individual subscribers. Individual subscribers lose their private property, they say. ``Just because my country did not pay back the premium to a Korean doesn't mean Korea should not pay me back my money,'' a Chinese worker said on condition of anonymity.

The pension is obligatory although it cannot be refunded, he said. Some don't even know it is nonrefundable.

NPS's Choi said signing the treaty with Korea is the best solution. ``We have invited the Chinese government to join the treaty but it simply ignored us. Appealing to the government will be the only solution,'' he said.

The National Assembly in 2006 passed a special bill to allow the pension refund to foreigners with E-8, E-9 and H-2 visas and from 2007 more foreigners were able to get the refund.

But still, Chinese and Taiwanese, two of the largest foreigner groups in Korea, and others from various countries cannot get them.

``Using it for the welfare of foreign workers would be the best solution,'' Woo Sam-yeol, an activist for migrant workers' rights, said.

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[I'm Seoul Lost]

[cruisemonkey]

"He added that Korea is always in the red in the area since fewer Koreans abroad than foreigners in Korea get their pension refunds."

K-journalism at it's best!

[icicle]

[jadarite]

What is this Chinese person's pension? Is it on par with an American, Australian, or Briton? You can go a lot further on a "dollar" in China than America, so if the pension amount is smaller then I can see a reason to complain. If the pension amount is the same or more, then I question the country's handling of their economy first. It sounds legit now, just need more facts from this case as to how much his pension is.

[Otherside]

[wylies99]

Korea more than breaks even because of interest paid to THEM but not us when we get our pension refund.

[I'm Seoul Lost]