Main Contents of the Social Security Agreement Between Korea and New Zealand

History of the Agreement with New Zealand

• Nov 2015 : Held the first negotiation meeting of the Agreement
• Mar 2016 : Held the second negotiation meeting and the first meeting for the Administrative Arrangement of the Agreement
• Jun 2017 : Held the second meeting for the Administrative Arrangement and the implementation meeting of the Agreement
• Oct 2019 : Signed the Agreement
• Dec 2020 : Provided the notification regarding completion of a domestic procedure of Korean side
• Dec 2021 :Received the notification regarding completion of a domestic procedure of New Zealand side
• Mar 2022 : Entry into force of the Agreement

Applicable Legislation

• In relation to Korea, National Pension Act (with regard to benefit, the old-age pension under the National Pension Act) In relation to New Zealand, the New Zealand Superannuation and Retirement Income Act;
• the Social Security Act; the Social Security Regulations; the Veteran’s Support Act; etc.

Personal Scope of this Agreement

• This Agreement shall apply to any national of either Contracting Party who is or has been subject to the legislation of Korea; or has a period of New Zealand working age residence. And, where applicable to other persons in regard to the rights derived from the person described above.
• * New Zealand working age residence : it generally means a period when the person had residence in New Zealand after the person attains age 20 and before the person attains age 65. For a Korean national, includes any periods of lawful residence in New Zealand.
• ※ For more information, you may refer to the section Agreement

Benefits under this Agreement

• Even though your periods of coverage in one country are not sufficient to qualify for pension benefits, you may be eligible for benefits after this Agreement has entered into force. This is possible due to the totalization of coverage periods in both countries.
• ① Korean National Pension Benefits under the Social Security Agreement
• -If you have more than 12 months of insured period in Korea but do not have enough periods of coverage(more than 10 years) to qualify for pension benefits under the Korean national pension scheme, you may be able to qualify for Korean national pension benefits by totalizing periods of coverage under the Korean pension system and periods of New Zealand working age residence. However, these periods of New Zealand working age residence creditable under New Zealand pension system, must not coincide with those under the legislation of Korea.
• - Your benefit is calculated by dividing the Korean periods of coverage by the total periods of coverage and then multiplying by the benefits amount (theoretical benefit). The benefits amount (theoretical benefit) is calculated based on the total periods in both countries.
• ② New Zealand Pension Benefits under the Social Security Agreement
• - If you have more than one continuous year of New Zealand working age residence, but do not have enough periods of New Zealand working age residence to qualify for pension benefits under the New Zealand pension system, you may be able to qualify for New Zealand pension benefits by totalizing periods of coverage under the Korean and the periods of working age residence under New Zealand pension systems. However, these periods creditable under the Korean national pension scheme, must not coincide with those under the legislation of New Zealand.
  * For the purpose of satisfying the requirement that a person had residence in New Zealand for five years after reaching the age 50, only periods of Korean contributions after reaching age 50 are considered.
• - Your benefit is calculated by taking into account of periods of New Zealand residence, country of residence, and other overseas pension benefit amount, etc.
• ③ Unless otherwise provided in the Agreement, all persons to whom this Agreement applies shall receive equal treatment with nationals of that Party in the application of its legislation regarding entitlement to or payment of benefits.
• ④ Korean lump-sum refunds are not granted to nationals of New Zealand based on the Agreement.
  Lump-sum refunds can be paid in accordance with the reciprocity principle under the National Pension Act. However, there is no New Zealand benefits corresponding to Korean lump-sum refund.
  ※ For more information, you may refer to the section either Agreement or Guide for Benefits Application.

Agencies of this Agreement

Agencies of this Agreement

Korea	New Zealand
(1) National Pension Service (NPS)	(1) Ministry of Social Development → www.msd.govt.nz