Korean Pension Back: NPS Refund for Germans and Swiss Citizens

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If you live in Korea and are between 18 and 60, you pay into the state pension insurance, the NPS. Here's when Germans and Swiss citizens get their contributions back, and how to apply before or after leaving Korea. ━━━━━━━━━━ 👥 Who pays into the Korean pension If you live in Korea and are between 18 and 60 years old, you're a mandatory member of the state pension insurance, the National Pension Service (국민연금, NPS), just like Koreans. This applies to foreigners too. For employees, the employee and the employer each pay half of the contribution. The contribution rate is the same for foreigners and Koreans. 👉 For you: If you work as an employee in Korea, half of the contribution comes from you and your employer pays the other half. ━━━━━━━━━━ ✅ Money back: What applies to Germans and Swiss citizens Normally the NPS doesn't pay foreigners a one-time refund. For Germans there is one, because Germany and Korea have a social security agreement. Swiss citizens also get the refund, because Switzerland grants Koreans a comparable benefit. The refund (lump-sum refund) is available if you leave Korea permanently or turn 60. You get your contributions plus interest. 👉 For you: As a German or Swiss citizen, you can have your contributions paid out with interest when you leave Korea permanently. The source says nothing about Austria, so ask the NPS about it. ━━━━━━━━━━ ✈️ Apply in Korea before you leave If you apply while still in Korea, you need the application form, a copy of your passport and Residence Card, a copy of your bankbook and a copy of your flight ticket. Your contacts are the regional offices of the NPS. 👉 For you: Plan the application before your flight and gather your documents early. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🌍 Already left? You can apply from abroad You can also apply for the refund after leaving Korea. To do so, have the application notarized and certified by the Korean embassy or consulate. You also need copies of your passport and bankbook. 👉 For you: If you didn't apply before leaving, you can still do so after leaving Korea. The source says nothing about deadlines, so ask the NPS. ━━━━━━━━━━ ⚠️ Good to know: Representatives and old-age pension If a representative in Korea applies for you, the application must be sent by post. A monthly Korean old-age pension only starts after 10 years of insurance. The refund, by contrast, is a one-time payout. 👉 For you: The refund is a one-time payout, while the monthly old-age pension only starts after 10 years of insurance. ━━━━━━━━━━ 🔗 Sources National Pension Service – Guide to the National Pension for Foreigners (PDF) https://www.nps.or.kr/html/download/guide_for_foreigners_3.pdf Deutsche Rentenversicherung – Arbeiten in Deutschland und Korea https://www.deutsche-rentenversicherung.de/SharedDocs/Downloads/DE/Broschueren/international/weitere_abkommen_fremdsprachig/arbeiten_deutschland_korea_englische_version.pdf ━━━━━━━━━━ 💬 Have you ever applied for an NPS refund? How did it go, and what tips do you have for others? 📲 On Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lebeninkorea_en/ 📸 Photos: Sam Balye, Marek Piwnicki, Marissa Lewis (Unsplash); 서울관광 아카이브, Korea Tourism Organization (한국관광공사), 부산광역시, 최경이(자유이용저작물), Korea Heritage Service (KOGL Type 1)