(Yonhap News) Backlash From the Controversy Over Pension Equity for Foreigners — A Government-Wide Emergency Review of the Social Security Schemes (Posted September 13, 2026)

(At the President's instruction,

screening the Basic Pension, emergency welfare support, the National Health Insurance, and others

for 'blind spots'
examining foreigners' eligibility requirements and coverage gaps

to tighten up the schemes…

the Basic Pension residence requirement also to be reworked)

Prompted by the fairness controversy surrounding matters such as foreigners' receipt of pension benefits, the government has launched an emergency review to identify loopholes across the major social security schemes as a whole, including the Basic Pension, emergency welfare support, and the National Health Insurance.

President Lee Jae-myung has instructed that gaps in the rules be remedied so that, under the social security schemes, there is no case of anyone gaining an improper benefit or the public suffering an unreasonable loss, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare is accordingly examining, department by department, foreigners' eligibility requirements and the blind spots in the various welfare schemes.

According to the political sphere on the 13th, President Lee recently emphasized at the Cabinet meeting and at the senior secretaries' meeting at the presidential office that "the social security schemes, which operate on resources the public has raised together, must be designed with precision and fairness so that there is no case of anyone gaining an improper benefit or the public suffering an unreasonable loss."

He went on to say, "Regardless of how many or how few the actual cases may be, the very fact that a gap in the system exists is bound to be perceived as unreasonable discrimination by the great majority of the public, who have faithfully fulfilled their duty to pay taxes," and he instructed that the gaps in the rules relating to receipt of benefits by foreigners be thoroughly inspected and remedied. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has begun screening work, department by department, centered on the major welfare schemes, such as the National Basic Living Security System and emergency welfare support, the Basic Pension and the National Pension, and the National Health Insurance and Long-Term Care Insurance for the Elderly, to see whether any blind spots exist.

An official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare said, "In line with the President's instruction, each program department is meticulously examining foreigners' eligibility requirements and loopholes across the schemes as a whole," adding, "The plan is to screen closely for coverage gaps in the major schemes — such as emergency welfare support, pensions, and the National Health Insurance — that are not in keeping with public sentiment or that undermine equity, and to work out measures to tighten up the schemes."

The authorities had earlier sharply tightened the controversial requirements for foreigners to pay arrears into the National Pension, moving them from the mere maintenance of residence status to confirmation of actual residence in Korea for 15 days or more a month.

Jung Eun-kyeong, the Minister of Health and Welfare, likewise stated that, because the National Pension is a scheme intended to secure the old-age income of citizens residing in Korea, she would devote every effort to ensuring that there are no cases of abuse, such as receiving a pension after residing in Korea only briefly.

At the same time, the government is also hurrying to put in order the bills to remedy the schemes that are pending before the National Assembly, among them a bill, pending before the National Assembly for a second year, that would set a minimum period of residence in Korea for receipt of the Basic Pension

In addition, for the welfare schemes as a whole over which fairness controversies have flared up, such as the issue of levying health insurance contributions on foreigners' daily-wage earnings, the government plans to continue a multifaceted review of improvements to the schemes, giving comprehensive consideration to such factors as the burden on low-income groups.

https://n.news.naver.com/article/001/0016306243?sid=102