When a Korean civil servant who was receiving (or entitled to) a retirement pension dies, the survivors get a survivor pension. Article 55(1) of the Government Employees Pension Act (GEPA) sets it at 60% of the retirement or early retirement pension the person could receive, and Article 40(1) says that a survivor who also gets their own retirement pension has half of the survivor pension deducted. Equal-rank survivors share equally (Art. 32). Below are the rules on who counts as a survivor, rank and loss of entitlement, as written, with a monthly calculator.
1. Survivor pension = 60% of the late person’s retirement (or early) pension (Art. 55(1)).
2. With your own retirement pension too, half of the survivor pension is deducted (Art. 40(1)).
3. Remarriage ends it; children and grandchildren without a severe disability lose it at 19 (Art. 57). Equal-rank survivors share (Art. 32).
Calculator
Updates as you type. Amounts are cut to the won (our method). The 70% option is for the older transitional rules described below, which we haven’t applied case by case — the Government Employees Pension Service (GEPS) decides. The special additional lump sum applies only if death came before the pension started or within 3 years of its start (Art. 54(3)).
How much — Arts. 54 and 55
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Survivor pension (Art. 54(1)) | Paid when someone entitled to a retirement or early retirement pension dies | — |
| Amount (Art. 55(1)) | 60% of the retirement or early pension; if death comes before the pension start point, 60% of the early pension equivalent at death (more than 5 years short is treated as 4 to 5 years short) | Death before pension age has its own rule |
| Additional lump sum (Arts. 54(2), 55(2)) | If a civil servant with 10 years or more of service dies in service: 25% of the retirement-pension lump sum at death | A one-off on top of the pension |
| Special additional lump sum (Arts. 54(3), 55(3)) | Death after retiring but before the pension starts, or within 3 years from the month it started: 1/4 of the lump sum × [36 − months received] × 1/36 | Makes up for a short time on the pension |
| Survivor lump sum instead (Art. 54(4)) | For in-service death after 10 years or more, survivors may take a lump sum instead of the pension and additional sum | One or the other |
| Survivor lump sum (Art. 58) | Death with under 10 years of service: a lump sum | 10 years is the dividing line |
The calculator uses the Article 55(3) formula as written. With a lump-sum equivalent of 150,000,000 won and 12 months of pension before death: 150,000,000 × 1/4 × (36 − 12)/36 = 25,000,000 won; with death before the pension started (0 months), 37,500,000 won (our sums). The lump-sum equivalent is set by the GEPS, so you enter it yourself.
Who is a survivor, and in what order — Arts. 3, 31, 32
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning (Art. 3(1)2) | Spouse, children, parents, grandchildren or grandparents the person was supporting at death | Support criteria are in Decree Annex 1 |
| Spouse | Limited to someone married to them while in service, de facto marriage included | A marriage after retirement doesn’t count |
| Children, grandchildren | Excludes those born or adopted after retirement (a foetus at retirement counts). Under 19, or 19+ with a severe disability (Decree) | Grandchildren only if their father is absent or disabled |
| Parents, grandparents | Excludes those by adoption after retirement | — |
| Rank (Art. 31) | The inheritance order under the Civil Act | — |
| Equal rank (Art. 32) | Shared equally; may be paid in full to a chosen representative (Decree Art. 27) | The calculator’s “equal-rank survivors” |
With your own pension — Art. 40(1)
Article 40(1): a retirement or early pension recipient who also receives a survivor pension is paid with half of the survivor pension deducted. The usual case is a couple who were both civil servants on pensions. If the late person’s pension was 2,800,000 won a month, the survivor pension is 60%, 1,680,000 won; a spouse on their own retirement pension gets half of that, 840,000 won (our example). The article doesn’t say whose share the half comes from when there are several equal-rank survivors; the calculator deducts it from the share of the person who has their own pension (our method).
Three sums — our example
| Case (our example) | Monthly survivor pension | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Late person’s pension 2,800,000 won, spouse alone | 1,680,000 won (60%) | 20,160,000 won a year |
| Same, spouse also on own retirement pension | 840,000 won | Half deducted |
| Same, two equal-rank survivors | 840,000 won each | 1,680,000 won split |
When entitlement ends — Art. 57
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death | — |
| 2 | Remarriage (de facto marriage included) | Cohabiting counts |
| 3 | The family relationship with the late person ends | — |
| 4 | A child or grandchild without a severe disability turns 19 | — |
| 5 | The disability of someone receiving because of it ends | — |
| Transfer (Art. 57(2)) | Passes to an equal-rank survivor, or if none, the next rank | Decree Art. 52 application |
Decree Article 53 requires the loss to be reported to the GEPS within 30 days (by the person themselves on remarriage, by the person obliged to report a death on death). If the recipient is missing for 1 year or more, an equal-rank or next-rank survivor can claim the pension for that period (Art. 56). Pensions run from the month after the event to the month entitlement ends (Art. 34(1)).
Who gets 70%? — transitional rules
The rate used to be different. Addendum Article 11 of the 2010 amendment (Act No. 9905) set survivor pensions at 70/100 where the person was in service before that Act or had retired before it. The amendment in force from 1 January 2016 (Act No. 13387) deleted that addendum provision, but its Addendum Article 13 kept the old rule for people already receiving a survivor pension before it took effect. The current Act’s addendum (No. 15523) Article 25 carries this on.
Separately, current Addendum Article 15(16) says benefits for service before 1 January 2016 are paid under the rules before that amendment. We haven’t worked out what rate this produces for someone appointed before 2010 who dies after 2016. The 70% option is for comparison; ask the GEPS for the actual rate.
The National Pension survivor pension (40 to 60% by contribution years) is in national pension survivor pension calculator.
Checklist
- ☐ The late person’s monthly retirement (or early) pension
- ☐ Married while in service? Supported at death?
- ☐ On your own retirement pension: half deducted
- ☐ Under 3 years on the pension: check the special lump sum
- ☐ Remarriage or turning 19: report to the GEPS within 30 days
Questions that remain
What if the death was in the line of duty?
Line-of-duty death falls under the Public Officials Accident Compensation Act; Article 54(2) includes those who chose that pension instead in the additional lump sum. We didn’t cover its amount.
Does a divorced former spouse get a survivor pension?
Article 3 limits survivors to a spouse supported at death. A former spouse has the separate split pension, and Article 47(3) says split-pension holders aren’t treated as retirement-pension recipients when the survivor pension is paid.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Government Employees Pension Act Arts. 3, 31, 32, 34, 40, 54–58 — source (current text, effective 2 October 2026, Act No. 21857; checked 5 November 2026). Survivors and their scope, inheritance order, equal shares, payment period, half deduction with own pension, survivor pension and lump-sum amounts, missing persons, loss and transfer, survivor lump sum. Addendum (Act No. 15523) Arts. 15(16), 25, 26.
- Korean law database — GEPA Enforcement Decree Arts. 3, 27, 52, 53 — source (current text, effective 2 October 2026, Decree No. 36728; checked 5 November 2026). Disability level, payment to a representative, transfer, 30-day report.
- Korean law database — earlier versions — Act No. 12844 text (effective 19 November 2014) for Act No. 9905 Addendum Art. 11 (70/100); Act No. 13387 text (effective 1 January 2016) for its Addendum Arts. 12 and 13.
- Not read. Decree Annex 1 support criteria in detail, line-of-duty survivor pensions, the Art. 43 pension formula, case law and GEPS practice.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Government Employees Pension Service — the actual rate and lump-sum equivalent.
Written on 5 November 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
