If you receive Korea’s Basic Pension and stay abroad for a long time, the pension stops. Article 16(1)3 of the Basic Pension Act makes it a ground for suspension where a stay abroad lasts 60 days or more, and treats the day the stay reaches 60 days as the day the ground arises. Payment is suspended from the month after the month in which the ground arises until the month in which it ends, and no basic pension is paid for the suspended period (Art. 14(2)). If you plan to spend the winter somewhere warm or a few months with family overseas, enter your departure and return dates to see in advance which months are lost.
1. Day 60 abroad is the day the suspension ground arises — where a stay abroad lasts 60 days or more (Act Art. 16(1)3).
2. Suspended from the next month until the month you return — from the month after the ground arises to the month it ends (Art. 16(1)), with nothing paid for that period (Art. 14(2)). Report within 30 days once the ground ends (Art. 18(1)1).
3. Our example — leaving on 1 December 2026 and returning on 10 March 2027, day 60 is 29 January 2027 and February and March 2027, 2 months, are not paid: ₩699,400 at ₩349,700 a month (our arithmetic).
Calculator
Updates as you type. Dates as YYYY-MM-DD. The Act says only “the day the stay abroad reaches 60 days”; which day counts as day 1 is our reading, so the calculator shows the other way of counting when it changes the result. Returning on day 60 itself is flagged as a boundary day and not settled. The monthly amount is what you enter — we used the 2026 standard amount of ₩349,700; the amount for 2027 is set by a new notice. We do not handle short trips home in the middle of a stay.
The provisions as written
| Provision | What the text says | Points to note (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Act Art. 16(1), main text | Where a recipient falls under any of the following, payment is suspended from the month after the month in which the ground arises until the month in which it ends | Suspended through the month you return, paid again from the month after (our reading) |
| Act Art. 16(1)3 | Where the recipient’s stay abroad lasts 60 days or more; the day the stay abroad reaches 60 days is treated as the day the ground arises | The Act does not say which day is day 1 |
| Act Art. 16(1)1, 2 and 4 | Imprisonment in a correctional or treatment facility, presumed death through disappearance, and similar cases set by decree | Decree Art. 18(2): registration as a person of unknown residence under the Resident Registration Act, unless the actual address is known |
| Act Art. 14 | (1) Paid monthly from the month of application to the month the entitlement is lost. (2) No basic pension is paid for a period of suspension under Art. 16(1) | We read the suspended months as not paid later (our reading) |
| Act Art. 17 item 2 | The entitlement is lost on losing nationality or emigrating | A stay (suspension) and emigration (loss) are different provisions |
| Act Art. 18(1)1 | A recipient must report within 30 days when a ground for suspension under Art. 16(1) ends | Report within 30 days of returning |
How to count the 60 days — our reading
The Act says only “the day the stay abroad reaches 60 days”. By default the calculator counts the departure day as day 1: leaving on 1 December 2026, day 60 is 29 January 2027. Counting from the day after departure, it is a day later, 30 January. Both fall in January here, so the result is the same, but when day 60 lands on the last day of a month the first suspended month moves by one.
For example, leaving on 2 November 2026, day 60 is 31 December 2026 counting the departure day, or 1 January 2027 counting from the next day. Returning on 15 February 2027, the first count loses January and February, 2 months (₩699,400), and the second loses February only, 1 month (₩349,700) (our arithmetic). The calculator then shows an “under the other way of counting” line. If your dates sit on the line, coming back a few days earlier is the safer plan (our suggestion).
Six worked cases — our examples
| Case (departure day = day 1, our example) | Result | Points to note (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| Leave 2026-12-01, return 2027-01-28 | No suspension | Back before day 60 (29 January) |
| Leave 2026-12-01, return 2027-01-29 | Boundary day — not settled | Returned on day 60 itself |
| Leave 2026-12-01, return 2027-01-31 | No month lost | The ground arises and ends in January; “from the next month to that month” is empty (our arithmetic) |
| Leave 2026-12-01, return 2027-03-10 | 2 months · ₩699,400 | February and March 2027 suspended |
| Leave 2026-11-02, return 2027-02-15 | 2 months · ₩699,400 | Counting from the next day: 1 month · ₩349,700 |
| Leave 2026-12-01, still abroad | From February 2027 until the month you return | The amount needs a return date |
The third row is the one to notice. If you pass day 60 but come back within the same month, no month falls inside “from the next month until the month the ground ends”. In the fourth row, by contrast, returning on 10 March still loses March, because March is the month in which the ground ends. That is why moving the return earlier within the same month does not change the result (our reading). With the calculator’s default dates (leave 1 December 2026, return 10 March 2027), 2 months, ₩699,400, are lost (our arithmetic).
Suspension is not the same as loss
Suspension under Art. 16 is built to resume from the month after the ground ends (our reading). Art. 17 item 2, by contrast, says the entitlement itself is lost on emigrating. Lost entitlement does not resume on return like a suspension; we read it as needing a new application (our reading — payment runs from the month of application, Art. 14(1)). The provisions we read give no test for what counts as emigration.
Suspension and its lifting are notified in writing. Art. 11(1) of the Enforcement Rule says the head of the city, county or district must decide the suspension and notify its content and reason when a ground under Art. 16(1) of the Act arises, and Art. 11(2) says that when the ground ends they must lift the suspension and notify the recipient. Under Art. 11(3) the notice is the “payment change (loss) notice” under Art. 8(2). Both steps are decided by the local office, so after you return, check that a lifting notice arrives (our explanation).
See also
- All the reporting and recovery rules — duties while receiving the Basic Pension.
- The thresholds and the formula — Basic Pension 2026.
- If you also receive the National Pension — basic pension linked-reduction calculator.
- The National Pension side — National Pension reporting duties and suspension (a different Act).
- Falling ill abroad — sick or injured abroad.
Checklist
- ☐ Your departure and planned return dates, and which month day 60 falls in
- ☐ Whether day 60 is near the end of a month
- ☐ Report to the community centre within 30 days of returning
- ☐ Whether anything (moving your address, for example) could make the stay look like emigration
- ☐ If your spouse travels too, the same count applies to both
Questions that remain
If I come home briefly and leave again, does the 60-day count restart?
The Act says only “where the stay abroad lasts 60 days or more”. How a short trip home is counted is not in the Act or Decree provisions we read, so the calculator handles one departure and one return. Ask the Ministry’s programme guidance or your community centre.
Can I get the suspended months paid later?
Art. 14(2) says no basic pension “is paid” for the suspended period. We do not read any route in this provision for paying those months after you return (our reading).
What if I do not report my return?
The duty to report is in Art. 18(1)1, and the fine for breaching reporting duties is covered in duties while receiving the Basic Pension. The calculator’s 30-day date counts 30 days from the day after you return (our count).
Sources
- Korean Law Information Center — Basic Pension Act Arts. 14, 16, 17 and 18 — original text (current version, in force 1 October 2025, Act No. 21065; checked 11 November 2026). Payment period, grounds and period of suspension, the 60-day stay abroad, loss of entitlement, reporting within 30 days.
- Korean Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree of the Basic Pension Act, Art. 18 — original text (current version, in force 30 July 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36371; checked 11 November 2026). Presumed death and registration as a person of unknown residence.
- Korean Law Information Center — Ministry of Health and Welfare notice on the basic pension selection threshold and standard amount, Art. 3 — original text (Notice No. 2026-156, in force 30 July 2026; checked 11 November 2026). The 2026 standard amount of ₩349,700 used in the examples.
- Korean Law Information Center — Enforcement Rule of the Basic Pension Act, Art. 11 — original text (current version, in force 30 July 2026, Ministry of Health and Welfare Ordinance No. 1180; checked 11 November 2026). Deciding and lifting a suspension, notice, the payment change (loss) notice.
- Not read. The Ministry’s programme guidance on how stays abroad are checked and how a short trip home is counted, any test for “emigrating”, and the Civil Act rules on counting periods.
- What we added. Counting the departure day as day 1 by default and showing the other count, the boundary-day flag, the reading that a return in the same month loses no month, the 30th-day reporting date, the six examples, and the note on suspension versus loss.
We checked the calculator script against a separate Python version of the same arithmetic in 300 cases for each of the Korean and English pages (5 departure dates × 10 return dates × 3 monthly amounts × 2 ways of counting), with no mismatches.
Where to check further
- Your community centre or the National Pension Service — which months were suspended, when payment resumes, and how to report your return.
- Bokjiro — reporting changes to your Basic Pension.
Written on 11 November 2026. The provisions are quoted from the original; the readings and arithmetic are ours.
