An entitled foreigner must apply for the National Pension lump sum refund within five years of becoming entitled, normally the date of departure.: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

Becoming entitled, normally departure from Korea. Five years. The lump sum refund is not paid once the five years pass.

The right to severance pay under the Employee Retirement Benefit Security Act expires after three years without exercise.: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

The day after the last day worked. Three years. The right to severance pay expires.

Korean lump-sum refund: five-year prescription, which may not be the end of the matter.: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

The source does not state what starts the clock. Five years after entitlement arises. No source we read defines the event that starts it. The Lump-sum Refund is extinguished by prescription. Prescription may not be the end of the matter.

National Pension benefits: five-year prescription.: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

When the right to the benefit can be exercised (statute does not run while the whole benefit is suspended, art. 115(2)). 5 years (benefits); 10 years (art. 77(1)(1) lump-sum refund); 3 years (collection of contributions) The right is extinguished by completion of prescription (소멸시효가 완성된다).

THE SECOND DOOR, and it is what makes the Korean case commercial.: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

The source does not state what starts the clock. Even AFTER prescription completes: re-apply within 10 years after reaching age 60, or survivors within five years after the death. This is the second door. A time-barred Korean refund is not necessarily a dead claim.

Overseas resident annual confirmation: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

Every year, the quarter in which the recipient's birthday falls. By the second month of the birthday quarter, each year. Pension temporarily suspended or payment stopped under art. 86 of the National Pension Act; if entitlement is not confirmed within 2 years of the temporary suspension, payment is stopped including the suspension period.

NPS lump-sum refund on departure: what starts the clock and how long does it run?

Departure from Korea (출국이 확인된 경우); an application may be filed up to one month before departure with proof. After confirmed departure (or within one month before, with proof) the source does not state what happens if this is missed.

Deadline register

South Korea pension deadlines for people who left

We list every obligation we have verified in South Korea's pension system that runs on a time limit for someone who no longer lives there. Each row says what starts the clock, how long it runs and what is lost, with the official source and the date we checked it. We hold 7 rows for South Korea. Where an official source is silent, we say so on the row rather than guess.

When did you leave South Korea?

Pick the year and we open the free checker with South Korea already selected.

South KoreaLost outright

What starts the clock: Becoming entitled, normally departure from Korea
How long: Five years
What is lost: The lump sum refund is not paid once the five years pass

Official source, nps.or.krChecked 4 October 2026

South KoreaLost outright

What starts the clock: The day after the last day worked
How long: Three years
What is lost: The right to severance pay expires

Official source, law.go.kr Official source, easylaw.go.krChecked 4 October 2026

South KoreaArrears destroyed

What starts the clock: The source does not state what starts the clock
How long: Five years after entitlement arises. No source we read defines the event that starts it.
What is lost: The Lump-sum Refund is extinguished by prescription. Prescription may not be the end of the matter.

A departing foreigner's Korean Lump-sum Refund is extinguished by prescription five years after entitlement arises; NPS publishes this under its own heading, '5. Extinctive Prescription'. Prescription may not be the end of the matter, so the five years alone do not show that the refund has been lost.

Official source, nps.or.krChecked 1 September 2026

South KoreaArrears destroyed

What starts the clock: When the right to the benefit can be exercised (statute does not run while the whole benefit is suspended, art. 115(2)).
How long: 5 years (benefits); 10 years (art. 77(1)(1) lump-sum refund); 3 years (collection of contributions)
What is lost: The right is extinguished by completion of prescription (소멸시효가 완성된다).

The National Pension Act says: the right of a beneficiary or insured person to receive benefits (excluding the lump-sum refund under art. 77(1)(1)) or to have overpayments returned is extinguished by prescription if not exercised for 5 years; the right to the art. 77(1)(1) lump-sum refund is extinguished if not exercised for 10 years; the right to collect contributions lapses after 3 years. Prescription does not run while payment of the whole benefit is suspended.

What the source does not say

The source is the statute (the National Law Information Center view of 국민연금법, promulgation number 21203 of 16 December 2025, in force from 1 January 2026): it supports what the law says, not what NPS does in practice. Five years applies to pensions; the art. 77(1)(1) lump-sum refund has 10 years. We could not reach an NPS web page carrying this sentence.

Official source, law.go.krChecked 1 September 2026

South KoreaApplication window

What starts the clock: The source does not state what starts the clock
How long: Even AFTER prescription completes: re-apply within 10 years after reaching age 60, or survivors within five years after the death.
What is lost: This is the second door. A time-barred Korean refund is not necessarily a dead claim.

THE SECOND DOOR, and it is what makes the Korean case commercial. Even AFTER prescription completes, the person may RE-APPLY for the Lump-sum Refund within 10 years after reaching age 60, or survivors may within five years after the death. For anyone who taught, built or worked in Korea and left without claiming, a time-barred claim is not a dead claim.

Official source, nps.or.krChecked 1 September 2026

South KoreaProof of life

What starts the clock: Every year, the quarter in which the recipient's birthday falls.
How long: By the second month of the birthday quarter, each year
What is lost: Pension temporarily suspended or payment stopped under art. 86 of the National Pension Act; if entitlement is not confirmed within 2 years of the temporary suspension, payment is stopped including the suspension period.

Overseas Koreans and foreigners receiving an NPS pension must have their entitlement confirmed every year in the quarter containing their birthday (arts. 121 and 122 of the National Pension Act), by returning the regular entitlement confirmation form with identity and residence documents by the second month of that quarter. If not submitted in time, the pension is temporarily suspended or payment stopped under art. 86; if entitlement is still unconfirmed 2 years after the temporary suspension, payment is stopped including the suspension period.

What the source does not say

The source is an NPS notice and form in PDF, old-age pension version, with a file name dated 2022 and no revision date on the document. NPS publishes the same notice for 장애연금 and, in Chinese, for 노령연금. When we searched nps.or.kr on 31 August 2026 we found no HTML page carrying the rule. A newer version of the form may exist.

Official source, nps.or.krChecked 1 September 2026

South KoreaOther

What starts the clock: Departure from Korea (출국이 확인된 경우); an application may be filed up to one month before departure with proof.
How long: After confirmed departure (or within one month before, with proof)
What is lost: the source does not state what happens if this is missed

A foreign NPS insured person returning home can receive a lump-sum refund (반환일시금) only if their home country's law pays Korean nationals a benefit corresponding to the Korean lump-sum refund, or a social security agreement on lump-sum refunds exists between Korea and the home country, or they were insured under E-8, E-9 or H-2 status. Since 29 Aug 2007 the refund on grounds of returning home is paid only once departure is confirmed; an application may be lodged before departure with proof of departure within one month.

What the source does not say

The quote combines the three passages the page gives in quotation marks (the two reciprocity conditions and the departure sentence); the page also lists the E-8/E-9/H-2 condition. The page states no deadline for applying; the 10-year prescription for this refund is in art. 115 of the National Pension Act and has its own entry.

Official source, nps.or.krChecked 1 September 2026

This page is part of our Cross-Border Pension Deadline Register. If you find an error, tell us and we will publish the correction.