Position Statement on "The State Paying the First National Pension Contribution for 18-Year-Old Youth" (March 12, 2026)

If the state pays the first lifetime pension contribution on behalf of enrollees without implementing structural reform of the National Pension, the following concerns arise:

1. A conflict of institutional coherence with the operating principles of the National Pension as a social insurance scheme premised on personal contribution may arise.

2. The financial resources that would need to be continuously allocated must also be taken into account.

3. Above all, the long-term fiscal instability of the National Pension and the resulting decline in benefit levels are of particular concern.

As reported in the press, if the first contribution is paid on behalf of enrollees at the minimum insured earnings level of the National Pension,

a decline in benefit levels resulting from a fall in the average insured earnings of National Pension contributors, along with the emergence of additional fiscal instability factors stemming from the income redistribution function, will be unavoidable.

(The relevant news article is attached below.)

 

The target population consists of young people between the ages of 18 and 26,

with those born in 2009 — who will turn 18 in 2027, when the scheme is to be fully implemented — being the first to receive the benefit.

The government plans to pay one month's worth of contributions on behalf of these individuals when they first enroll in the National Pension.

The currently projected support amount corresponds to approximately 42,000 won — the lower bound of the standard monthly income reference for 2027.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0015930697?sid=102