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Lee Jae-myung orders review of rules governing foreign residents’ pension repayments
🇰🇷 South Korea /Economy & Trade

Lee Jae-myung orders review of rules governing foreign residents’ pension repayments

From Dong-A Ilbo · () Korean

Translated from Korean and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • President Lee Jae-myung ordered officials to review whether foreign residents should be allowed to make retroactive pension contributions after short stays in South Korea.
  • He said officials should consider handling the issue through enforcement ordinances or administrative guidelines rather than waiting for a legislative amendment.
  • Lee criticized the long-standing failure to address concerns about foreigners receiving pensions despite not actually living in South Korea.

President Lee Jae-myung has directed officials to examine whether South Korea should restrict retroactive national pension contributions by foreign residents.

Applying reciprocity means there is no obligation for our country to provide what other countries do not provide.

— Lee Jae-myungThe president argued that South Korea should consider reciprocal treatment in its foreign-resident pension rules.

At a Cabinet meeting at the Blue House on July 1, Lee said South Korea did not have to offer benefits that other countries did not provide to Korean citizens. He called for the principle of reciprocity to be considered in addressing the issue.

Lee also instructed officials to explore whether the rules could be changed through enforcement ordinances, implementation guidelines or other lower-level regulations, without sending the matter to the National Assembly. He complained that too many issues are routinely passed to lawmakers, slowing action.

We do not need to go all the way to the National Assembly. Consider ways to handle it through enforcement ordinances or implementation guidelines.

— Lee Jae-myungHe asked officials to consider administrative changes instead of waiting for legislation.

The president said concerns about foreigners making additional pension contributions after short periods of residence had been left unresolved for years. He also criticized the internal system for failing to flag the problem earlier.

If every problem is sent to the National Assembly, it takes too long.

— Lee Jae-myungLee criticized reliance on legislative amendments to resolve policy issues.
About this summary

Originally published by Dong-A Ilbo in Korean. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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