Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Beeston27]

I can't seem to glean a straightforward answer from the threads,

As I understand it, I supposedly can't get a pension rebate when my contract is up.............

So, assuming I can't stop paying pension contributions either....

Can I get them transferred into National Insurance contributions in the UK? If so how??

[tzechuk]

No. You CAN get it back, but you have to leave the country before you can get it back.

A couple of years ago I transferred from the national pension to a private one because I changed jobs and I got a call from the pension office. They told me if I used my UK passport then I would have to wait until I left... but using my HK passport meant I could get it right away.

There is no transfer agreement with the UK, so you can't put �� into the UK National Insurance.

BTW- are you from Beeston, Nottingham??

[ekul]

[Beeston27]

When you say get it back, do you mean transferred into a UK pension or get some cold hard cash?
No I am from the mighty NW of England. Manchester, the European capital of trophies.

[ABC KID]

I was always under the impression that you can't get your pension payments back when you leave but you are able to transfer them to your UK pension when you leave (I'm not sure if that is before or after you leave).


Suddenly seems to be a lot of interest in Beeston, Nottingham (ekul, tzechuk)...

Do you guys know that town/have links to that area? I used to live within three or four miles of Beeston...

[Hyeon Een]

[Pompeyinnit]

My understanding is that you'll never see the cold hard cash when you leave , but you can a) possibly get it transferred to the UK national pension scheme, or b) definitely claim it from here when you hit 60(ish).
There's also something about having to work a minimum of 10 years here to be eligible for these options...
try calling the pensions office like I did; it's a right fecken headache.

[tzechuk]

[Snowflake]

I was trying to find out about this some time ago - it was as clear as mud.
I got this reply from the Korean Pension service:

"This is in response to your request.

We are sorry to say that there is no provision other than the exemption rule under the Convention on Social Security between Korea and UK so that it is not true that the contributions under the Korean legislation can be transferable to the UK pension scheme.

The reason is as follows. The Korean Pension legislation provides that both Korean and foreign employees in Korea be under the Program so that UK nationals should be under the law.


The Convention mentioned above prescribes only exemption of pension contributions payment in Korea and NI tax payment in UK under certain restricted conditions such as detached workers to each country.


However, if the convention does not apply to a person, the person should be under the residing country�s law. For example, if a UK national is employed in Korea, the person should be under the Korean legislation, not under the UK one, because the person is not a detached worker provided under the Convention. The Korean legislation does not envision any transference of its contributions to other countries� pension scheme.

UK nationals under the Korean National Pension Act are entitled to every Korean benefit if they satisfy its regulation other than lump-sum refund benefit, which is based on the principle of reciprocity. Korean nationals are treated in UK in light of NI taxes same as UK nationals are in Korea in a view of Korean National Pension.


We regret to say that the NPS does not refund contributions to UK nationals when they leave Korea as UK government does not pay back NI taxes to Korean nationals in the same situation.


However, if both countries make a revision on the Convention in the future, it may be possible for the NPS to pay lump-sum refund to UK nationals.


There are some complaints among English nationals because of the terminology, PENSION, used in Korean program. As I mentioned above, the Korean National Pension is equivalent to NI tax in UK"

However - the UK office clarified further and said that the years in Korea will be "counted" towards the Pension scheme in the UK - and so any years paying here will be equivalent to paying into the pension pot in the UK. So no, you don't see the hard cash, but you do see the benefit eventually when you retire. I'm not sure how it will work but I guess keep a final statement from the Pension office here and contact HRMC on your return?

[hugekebab]

Sorry, jesus christ this is worrying me.

Are you saying that my private uni pension will not refund to me when I leave (I want the cash)? Or is that only applying to the national pension.

This is as clear as mud.

[Snowflake]

I don't know about private pension schemes - the info I was after was regarding the state pension scheme and the agreement between Korea and the UK.
I guess for a private scheme you'd have to talk to the company.

[tzechuk]

Private pension will definitely refund you - I asked about this when I took my job at my uni.

[Hyeon Een]

[tzechuk]

[hugekebab]