This Year's Basic Pension Eligibility Threshold Increased by 150,000 KRW Compared to Last Year
Expansion of Education and Medical Expense Deductions and Improvement of Benefit Application History Management System
This year, the basic pension eligibility threshold for single-person households has increased by 150,000 KRW, so individuals aged 65 or older living alone with a monthly recognized income of 2.13 million KRW or less will be eligible to receive the basic pension.
Basic pension recipients (aged 65 and over, within the lower 70% income level) are expected to receive discounts on mobile phone charges in the future. On the 31st, the Ministry of Science and ICT announced the legislative notice of the "Partial Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Telecommunications Business Act," which includes expanding the mobile phone fee discount recipients to basic pension recipients.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 1st that the 2025 basic pension eligibility threshold will be set at 2.28 million KRW per month for single-person households and 3.648 million KRW per month for couple households. This is a 7.0% increase compared to last year.
If the monthly recognized income of elderly households (the sum of earned income, pension income, and converted amounts of general assets, financial assets, debts, etc.) is below this eligibility threshold, they can receive the basic pension.
The government determines the eligibility threshold annually by considering income and asset levels, living conditions, and inflation rates to ensure that 70% of elderly people aged 65 or older receive the basic pension. Last year's thresholds were 2.13 million KRW per month for single elderly households and 3.408 million KRW per month for couple households.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare analyzed that although earned income of elderly people aged 65 or older increased by 11.4% and public pension income rose by 12.5% compared to last year, the value of assets owned by the elderly declined somewhat (buildings -4.1%, land -0.9%), resulting in only a 7% increase in the eligibility threshold.
Efforts to expand the basic pension recipients will continue. To this end, deductions for education and medical expenses, currently limited to cohabiting family members when calculating recognized income, will be extended to non-cohabiting direct ascendants and descendants.
Additionally, the 'Recipient Hope History Management System' will be improved to guide applicants who were rejected after applying for the basic pension through subsequent eligibility investigations. Currently, if a person under this system becomes a basic pension recipient, they are removed from the management list, but going forward, they will be managed for five years regardless of recipient status.
Furthermore, to support basic pension recipients who are victims of domestic violence, protection measures will be strengthened so that de facto divorce can be recognized solely by verification of documents such as police reports of domestic violence incidents.
The basic pension must be applied for to receive it, and applications can be submitted at administrative welfare centers in towns, townships, and neighborhoods nationwide regardless of the applicant’s registered address, at National Pension Service branches, or through the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s online portal 'Bokjiro.' For those with mobility difficulties, a 'visiting service' can be requested from the National Pension Service branch.
Those turning 65 this year and newly eligible for the basic pension can apply starting one month before their birth month. For example, a person born in April 1960 can apply from March 1 and will receive the pension starting from April.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare expects the number of basic pension recipients to increase from 4.35 million in 2014 to approximately 7.36 million in 2025, and the related budget to rise from 6.9 trillion KRW to 26.1 trillion KRW, about 3.8 times higher.
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