The National Pension Office

While you are working in Korea pension money is taken from your monthly paycheck. Your school contributes 4.5% and you contribute 4.5%. At the end of your contract you have to go to NPS (National Pension Service) and arrange to have your money wired to your account at home.

Here is the English website for the National Pension Service: http://www.npc.or.kr/jsppage/english/main.jsp

The woman at the counter spoke fluent English. She gave me a packet of about 10 forms stapled together but I only used four of the pages (pictured below). She made photocopies of my e-ticket home, my US passport, my ARC and my voided check. She explained that my school's last contribution date for my account would be December 10th and that my lump-sum distribution would probably be send on or around December 31st.

Most of the information required for the process was what I expected. The form asked for my US social security number which surprised me a little bit. It also asked for US phone number and I currently don't have one so I just wrote down my email address. The third form was for my bank information. It asked for my branch location details which don't really make sense for large US bank chains. I filled in the bank's routing number instead.

You can download the forms in English from the website. I had a little trouble finding them before I went to the office but the woman showed me. From the main page click on 'Sitemap' in the upper right corner. On the sitemap page scroll down to the Social Security Agreement section and click on forms. The forms are number 20 through 11 on the first page and 10 through 1 on the second page. The US and Canadian forms are #4 and #3 respectively.

- 4 - [U.S.]Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-U.S...
- 3- [Canada]Application for Korean Benefits under the Korea-C...

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http://www.npc.or.kr/jsppage/english/scheme/scheme_04.jsp

Here are the documents the website tells you to bring:
- An Application for Lump-sum Refund (This form is available at any regional office.)
- His/her passport
- His/her Alien Registration Card
- A copy of bankbook or similar (registered in the applicant's name)
- A copy of an airline ticket.
(the date of departure has to be in less than a month from the date of the claim)

I brought a voided check from my US bank account (either bring your checkbook over or at least a bank statement with your account number and name on it). I have an e-ticket for my flight home so I just brought a print-out of the e-ticket. I had my paper contract with me but they did not ask to see it.

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http://www.npc.or.kr/apppage/english/contact/contact_01.jsp

There are three NPS offices in Gwangju. I'm not sure which one I went to because the Yeonggwang employee drove me. I do know that it's on the same major road as the Gwangju bus terminal but heading away from downtown. Based on the descriptions below I assume it was the Buk-Gwangju Regional Office because it was on the first floor.

Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 506-724
Address : 3rd Floor, Kukminyeongeum Gwangjuhoegwan Bldg. (국민연금 광주회관), 1582-4 Usan-dong, Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)958-2096
Fax No. : 062)455-3002
How to get there : Get on Bus No. Songjung29,Chumdan70, 20, Bongsun 37. Get off at Station of IlSin APT or Honam Hospital.
If you get off at station of IlSin APT, Walk straight about 200 meters to Honam Hospital.
You can find Kukminyeonkum Gwangju Building around Kukmin Bank or Honam Hospital.

Dong-Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 501-025
Address : 8th Floor, Amore-Pacific Building, 5 Gumnamro, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)230-0771~3
Fax No. : 062)4553029
How to get there : - The way from Gwang ju station : About 15 minutes toward the Amore-Pacific Building by walk
- Public transpotation
① Bus : No 19, 38, 39, 57, 70, 79, 160, 170, 180, 180-1, 1187, get off the bus at Lotte department store
② Subway : Get off at Gumnamno 5 ga station, take exit No. 1. It takes about 2 minutes.

Buk-Gwangju Regional Office

Zip Code : 500-864
Address : 1∼2nd Floor, Songgang Bldg.(송강빌딩), (33-42 Yu-dong), 291 Keum-Nam-Ro, Buk-gu, Gwangju
Phone No. : 062)520-8110
Fax No. : 062) 455-3041
How to get there : It is across from HanGuknochong(한국노총) at Yudong Intersection. Go to the 2nd floor.

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The sign in front of the office. It's next to a KEB building.


The building across the street.


You can see an E-mart sign in the distance. It's not the E-mart at the Gwangju bus terminal.


The entrance facing the street.


From the lobby of the building.


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I noted all of the required fields with a purple highlighter.

Here is the first form I filled out.


Just my full name and signature on this form.


The form asking for my bank information.


Just the date and signature on this page.


At the end the woman who helped me handed me this summary of my account. The current balance is highlighted in purple (2,222,420 Won). This shows the balance after 10 months of working it doesn't include contributions for my October or November paychecks.