The National Pension Service plans to raise the income threshold for subsidizing pension premiums for low-income individually insured members to less than 1 million won a month from the current less than 800,000 won, with the agency aiming to apply the change from 2027.
The NPS reported its major operations to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee during a parliamentary audit on Oct. 14 and presented the higher income threshold as one of its measures to improve the enrollment system in ways members can feel, the agency said on the 16th. The NPS says it is pushing to have the change reflected in the government's 2027 budget proposal. Concerns have grown over the burden on low-income earners excluded from the subsidy after pension reform raised the contribution rate to 9.5% this year from 9%.
The requirement that applicants be resuming payments was abolished in January 2026. Previously, only members who had stopped paying because of job loss or leave and then resumed were given 50% of their premiums, but this year anyone who meets the income criteria can apply regardless of payment history. Applicants must also have a property tax base of less than 600 million won and annual comprehensive income, excluding business and wage income, of less than 16.8 million won. The subsidy is capped at 37,950 won a month for up to 12 months over a lifetime. Since June this year, applications can also be filed through the agency's app and website.
Under the earlier program introduced in 2022, more than 300,000 members received a combined 112.1 billion won over three years, and 90.8% of them continued paying premiums after the support ended. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare in December last year, the number of people eligible this year rose to 736,000 from 193,000, and the budget was increased to 82.4 billion won from 51.9 billion won. In a survey of 1,816 recipients released by the ministry and the agency on Aug. 3, 58.3% said the support had eased their financial burden.
Those earning between 800,000 won and 1 million won a month are excluded from this year's subsidy. The National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee voted on Nov. 12 last year for a revised 2026 budget that would have widened the threshold to less than 1 million won and added 72.9 billion won in spending, but the Special Committee on Budget and Accounts reverted it to the government's original 800,000 won. The 800,000-won level is lower than the income threshold for pension premium support for farmers and fishers, set at 1.06 million won a month in 2026, fueling a continuing dispute over fairness. Even at 1 million won, the threshold would still fall short of the level applied to farmers and fishers.
The variable is the budget review. The Health and Welfare Ministry's 2027 budget proposal was approved at a Cabinet meeting on Sept. 1. Based on estimates used for the committee's revision last year, the number of eligible people would rise to 1.147 million from 736,000. Factoring in the contribution rate's increase to 10% in 2027, the maximum monthly subsidy under a threshold of less than 1 million won is estimated at around 49,950 won by simple calculation.