이 누리집은 대한민국 공식 전자정부 누리집입니다.
Biz News Korea(Eng)
- Collected
- 2019.08.28
- Distributed
- 2019.08.29
- Source
- Go Direct
More Koreans are opting to claim national pension before they reach the benefit age despite the obvious penalty due to tough living conditions, another evidence of the worsening poverty among seniors in Korea.
The number of Koreans signing up for early pension release in May totaled 25,715 for a cumulative total of 600,127, accounting for 15.6 percent of all pensioners, according to the National Pension Service (NPS) on Tuesday.
At the current pace, the figure is well poised to exceed 50,000 this year, NPS added.
The number of early pensioners has been on the rise, jumping to 43,544 last year from 36,164 in 2016.
Early pension release was introduced to allow people in need of urgent money to access their pensions before the minimum age of 62. But it comes at a cost: 6 percent deductions on monthly payments for the rest of their lives.
At the same time, the number of pension deferments is also climbing. In contrast to early pensioners, those who push back their pension date can receive an additional 7.2 percent interest for every year deferred. The pension can be delayed for up to five years.
The number of deferred pensions was 1,075 in 2010 but surged to 22,213 by 2017. The tally fell sharply to 2,297 last year after the statutory pension age was raised to 62 from 61. But it quickly rebounded, reaching 8,575 as of May this year.
By Yeon Gyu-wook and Kim Hyo-jin
[ⓒ Pulse by Maeil Business News Korea & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]