From what age, and from exactly which month, does Korea’s National Pension old-age pension start to arrive? Article 61(1) of the National Pension Act pays an old-age pension to anyone with 10 or more insured years from the time they turn 60, but Article 8 of the Supplementary Provisions (Act No. 8541, 23 July 2007), printed with the current text, adds to the benefit age 1 year for people born 1953–1956, 2 years for 1957–1960, 3 years for 1961–1964, 4 years for 1965–1968 and 5 years for people born in 1969 or later. Article 54(1) then pays a pension from the month after the month in which the entitlement arises, and Article 54(2) pays it on the 25th of every month. Enter a date of birth and the calculator shows the pension age, the day you reach it, the first payment month, when an early old-age pension can be claimed, how far you can defer, and the split-pension age.
1. Pension age = 60 plus 1–5 years by birth year (Art. 61(1), Supp. Art. 8). People born from 1953 start at 61–65; anyone born in 1969 or later starts at 65.
2. The first payment comes in the month after the month you reach that age (Art. 54(1)), on the 25th; if that falls on a Saturday or public holiday it is paid the day before (Art. 54(2)).
3. An early old-age pension can start up to 5 years before the pension age (Art. 61(2): 55 plus the same addition); deferral runs up to 5 years after it (Art. 62(1), 2011 Supp. Art. 6).
Calculator
Results update as you type. Dates as YYYY-MM-DD. Special-occupation workers (age 55 base) are not covered. “The day you reach the age” is counted as your birthday, per Civil Act Art. 158 (the day of birth counts) — the treatment of 29 February in non-leap years is our reading. Check a calendar for whether the 25th is a public holiday.
Pension age by birth year — Supplementary Provisions Art. 8
| Born | Old-age & split pension | Early pension claim (up to 5 years before) |
|---|---|---|
| 1952 or earlier | 60 | 55 |
| 1953–1956 | 61 | 56 |
| 1957–1960 | 62 | 57 |
| 1961–1964 | 63 | 58 |
| 1965–1968 | 64 | 59 |
| 1969 or later | 65 | 60 |
Supplementary Article 8 says, in our translation: “Notwithstanding the respective provisions on the benefit age, the benefit age under the amended provisions of Article 48(1)3, Article 56(1), Article 56(2) to (4), … each item of Article 57-2(1) … of the National Pension Act amendment Act No. 5623 shall be that age plus 1 year for people born from 1953 to 1956, 2 years for 1957 to 1960, 3 years for 1961 to 1964, 4 years for 1965 to 1968, and 5 years for people born in 1969 or later.” It is written with the article numbers of the 1998 amendment (Act No. 5623), so carrying the addition over to today’s Article 61 (old-age pension at 60, early pension at 55) and Article 64(1)3 (split pension at 60) is our reading. It matches the National Pension Service table copied into our pension gap guide.
Deferral has its own provisions. Supplementary Article 6 of Act No. 11143 (31 December 2011) adds the same 1–5 years to the deferral age in Article 62(1), and Supplementary Article 4 of Act No. 13100 (28 January 2015) adds them to Article 62(2) and (4) (the “age 65” at which a deferred pension starts). So someone born in 1969 or later can defer from 65 until just before 70 (our sum).
When does it arrive — Article 54
| Provision | What the text says | Points to note (our gloss) |
|---|---|---|
| Art. 54(1) | A pension is paid from the month following the month containing the day the reason for payment arises … until the month containing the day the entitlement ends. | Reach the age on 15 March and April is the first month — even with a birthday on the 1st |
| Art. 54(2) | The pension for each month is paid on the 25th of that month; if that day is a Saturday or public holiday, it is paid the day before. | That month’s amount on that month’s 25th — not in arrears |
| Art. 54(3) | When a reason to suspend payment arises, the pension is not paid from the month after that day until the month the reason ends. | Suspension also starts “the next month” — reporting duties are in reporting while receiving |
Article 54(1) also says in brackets that if the entitlement arises by paying a refund repayment, a back-payment (chunap) or overdue contributions, the reference date is “the day that amount was paid”. Someone who completes 10 years by back-paying therefore starts from the month after the payment day, not the birthday (our reading). The calculator doesn’t cover that case.
“Reaching the age” means your birthday — Civil Act Art. 158
Article 158 of the Civil Act counts age in full years, including the day of birth. Counting from the day of birth, 60 years end on the day before the 60th birthday, so you turn 60 on the birthday itself — the same count as our international age calculator. Someone born on 29 February has no such day in a non-leap year, and Civil Act Article 160(3) says that where the last month has no corresponding day, the period ends on the last day of that month. So the period ends on 28 February and we count the age as reached on 1 March — our reading, which may differ from how the Service handles it.
Five people’s dates — our examples
| Date of birth (our example) | Pension age · that day | First payment |
|---|---|---|
| 1961-12-10 | 63 · 2024-12-10 | January instalment — the 25th is a Saturday, so 2025-01-24 (Fri) |
| 1966-03-15 | 64 · 2030-03-15 | 2030-04-25 (Thu) |
| 1969-07-01 | 65 · 2034-07-01 | 2034-08-25 (Fri) |
| 1972-02-29 | 65 · 2037-03-01 (our reading) | April instalment — the 25th is a Saturday, so 2037-04-24 (Fri) |
| 1975-12-31 | 65 · 2040-12-31 | 2041-01-25 (Fri) |
Born on 15 March 1966, you could claim an early pension from 15 March 2025, when you turn 59, and defer until just before 15 March 2035, when you turn 69 (our sum). With a December birthday, like the 1961 example, the first payment falls in the next year.
What you need besides the age
- 10 insured years — Art. 61(1). Under 10 years there is a lump-sum refund instead, and Supplementary Article 8-3 lets you receive it “notwithstanding Supplementary Article 8” when you turn 60. See our lump-sum refund guide.
- Early old-age pension — Art. 61(2): 10 or more insured years, aged 55 (after the addition) or over, “not engaged in work with income prescribed by Presidential Decree”, from the time you claim. Enforcement Decree Article 45 defines that as work where business and earned income divided by the months worked exceeds the amount under Article 51(1)1 (the A value). How much it is cut is in our early and deferred pension calculator.
- Deferral — Art. 62(1): an entitled person aged 60 to under 65 (after the addition) can defer all or part.
- Split pension for a former spouse — the age 60 in Art. 64(1)3 gets the same addition. The 5-year marriage rule and the share are in our split pension calculator.
Checklist
- ☐ Find your birth-year band — 1969 or later means 65
- ☐ Check you have 10 insured years (120 months) — if short, back-payment or voluntary continued membership
- ☐ The first payment is the 25th of the month after your birthday month
- ☐ If you are working, check the early-claim income rule first
- ☐ Deferral runs until just before 5 years after the pension age — all or part
Questions that remain
Does it start automatically at the pension age?
Article 61(1) only says it is paid “from the time they turn 60”. The claim procedure sits in the Enforcement Rule, which we didn’t read this time, so the calculator doesn’t cover it. The usual guidance is to apply to the National Pension Service.
Is the civil service pension on the same table?
No. Its supplementary provisions set 60 to 65 by year of retirement — see our civil servant pension age calculator.
Can an early pension be switched back?
The Service’s guidance on suspending an early old-age pension is copied in “Card 4” of our pension gap guide.
Who counts as a special-occupation worker?
National Pension Act Art. 61(1) pays the old-age pension from 60 (55 for special-occupation workers), and Art. 13(1)2 defines them: people insured for at least three-fifths of their whole membership as workers in occupations set by decree. Decree Art. 22 names two: (1) mining under the Mining Act, underground work only; (2) fishing on a fishing vessel (aquaculture included), only for ratings directly engaged in fishing work under the Seafarers Act. If membership in these jobs is under three-fifths of the total, the person is not treated as a special-occupation worker (Art. 22(2); checked 9 November 2026). We did not read how the age of 55 shifts by birth year, so the calculator does not compute it.
Sources
- Korea Law Information Center — National Pension Act — text (current version, in force 20 Oct 2026, Act No. 22096; checked 9 November 2026). Art. 54 (payment period and timing), Art. 61 (old-age pension), Art. 62(1) (deferral), Art. 64(1) (split pension), Supplementary Provisions of Act No. 8541 Art. 8 (benefit age) and Art. 8-3 (lump-sum refund age), Act No. 11143 Supp. Art. 6 (deferral age), Act No. 13100 Supp. Art. 4 (benefit age).
- Korea Law Information Center — Enforcement Decree of the National Pension Act — text (in force 1 Jan 2026, Presidential Decree No. 35602; checked 9 November 2026). Art. 45 (work with income).
- Korea Law Information Center — Civil Act — text (in force 17 Mar 2026, Act No. 21454; checked 9 November 2026). Art. 158 (counting age), Art. 160 (calendar computation).
- Korean law database — National Pension Act Art. 13(1)2 and Decree Art. 22 — Act (in force 20 Oct 2026, Act No. 22096) and Decree (in force 1 Jan 2026, Decree No. 35602); checked 9 November 2026. Special-occupation workers — three-fifths of membership, underground mining and fishing-vessel ratings.
- Not read. The pension age by birth year for special-occupation workers, the original text of Act No. 5623 (the old article numbers the supplementary provision points to), the claim procedure (Enforcement Rule), the public holiday calendar.
- What we added. The “points to note” column, the five example people, the 29 February treatment, the calculator.
Where to check further
- National Pension Service — your insured period, estimated pension and the claim itself.
- Back-payment and continued membership — if you are short of 10 years, see our back-payment (chunap) guide.
Written on 9 November 2026. The content follows the original texts; the glosses are ours.
