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www.groovekorea.com / April 2014 34 ABOUT THE AUTHOR Paul Sharkie is the Foreign Client Relationship Manager for Shinhan Bank’s Foreign Customer department. Please visit Shinhan expat Banking on Facebook for more information. The banking information provided in this column is based on Shinhan Bank policies and may not be applicable to all banks in Korea. — ed. I t’s no secret that the National Pension Service has policies that give some nationalities a better deal than others when it comes to leaving Korea for good. Likewise, there is constant ambiguity in terms of who is required to pay into the system and who is not. Here we will take a look at how it’s set up, as well as the controversial lump-sum payment that is guaranteed to some but not to all. National pension service With over 20 million contributors, the National Pension Service has grown to be one of the largest pension funds in the world. With a few exceptions, all residents in Korea (regardless of income and including foreign workers) aged 18 to 60 are covered and required to participate. There are several categories of insured people, but the one that’s likely most applicable to our readers is “workplace-based mandatorily insured persons.” This category covers people who — unlike the individually insured or self-employed — see contributions shared between both themselves and their employ er (4.5 percent each). It applies to anyone working at a business with one or more employees. Exclusions Although coverage aims to include all workers, there are those who are not obligated to participate: 1) The national of any country that does not require Korean citizens to participate in its national pension scheme: Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus, Cambodia, East Timor, Egypt, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, Iran, Maldives, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Swaziland, Tonga and Vietnam 2) Foreigners who are not registered under the Immigration Act 3) Foreigners whose visa status falls under the following: Student (D-2), Industrial Training (D-3), General Training (D-4), Religion (D- 6), Visiting and Joining Family (F-3), Culture & Art (D-1) and Others (G-1) 4) People with a Social Security Agreement between their country and Korea that specifies exclusion THE MOnEy COLUMn edited by Matthew Lamers (mattlamers@groovekorea.com) InsIGHT depending on your nationality, Korea’s retirement plan may work out for you the penSion dealS Column by paul Sharkie / Illustration by Michael Roy