Support up to 45,000 KRW, for a maximum of 12 months
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Starting next month, regional subscribers who stop paying national pension contributions due to unemployment, leave of absence, or other reasons will be able to receive partial support for their pension insurance premiums.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that from July 1, it will implement a pension insurance premium support program for regional subscribers of the National Pension Service who are exempt from payment due to business suspension, unemployment, or leave of absence.
The pension insurance premium support program is one of the institutional improvement measures in the 2018 "4th Comprehensive National Pension Operation Plan." It provides support for pension insurance premiums to regional subscribers who were exempt from payment but have resumed paying premiums. If the reported standard monthly income is 1 million KRW or less, 50% of the pension insurance premium is supported, and if it exceeds 1 million KRW, a fixed amount of 45,000 KRW per month is provided.
Support is not available if income and property criteria are exceeded. The income criterion applies if income excluding business and earned income is 16.8 million KRW or more annually, and the property criterion applies if the combined taxable value of property tax on land, buildings, houses, aircraft, and ships is 600 million KRW or more.
Also, overlapping support during the same period is not allowed with similar pension insurance premium support programs such as unemployment credit and pension insurance premium support for farmers and fishermen.
Pension insurance premium support first started in July 1995 targeting farmers and fishermen. In July 2012, it was expanded to workers in small businesses under the "Durunuri Support" program, and from this July, the support target has been extended to low-income regional subscribers.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare expects that about 220,000 regional subscribers who were exempt from payment due to business suspension, unemployment, or leave of absence will resume payment and receive pension insurance premium support in the second half of the year.
Until now, regional subscribers have borne the full cost of premiums themselves, unlike workplace subscribers who share premiums with their employers, and the exemption rate due to unemployment was high, making them vulnerable to securing retirement income through pensions. As of December last year, among 6.83 million regional subscribers, 3.08 million were exempt from payment, accounting for 45.2%.
Jung Ho-won, Director of the Pension Policy Bureau at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, "We expect this support to help those exempt from payment who had difficulty paying premiums due to lack of income from business suspension, unlike workplace subscribers, to prepare for their retirement even if only a little."
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