Can you collect your pension refund at Incheon Airport?

The National Pension Service (NPS) can pay the lump-sum refund (반환일시금) in cash, in a foreign currency, at Incheon Airport on the day you leave. These are the conditions from the NPS page.

Who
Anyone entitled to the refund (see our refund posts) who will leave Korea through Incheon Airport within one month of applying.

Before the day

• Apply within one month before departure at any NPS office or counselling centre, but not the airport centre itself. Choose airport payment on the claim form and give a backup bank account, Korean or foreign.
• Your former employer must report your leaving to NPS by the day before you fly. Without that report there is no airport payment.

On the day

• Weekdays only. Not on Saturdays, Sundays, public holidays or the last business day of December. On those days the money goes to your bank account instead.
• Your flight must leave between 10:30 and 24:00 from Terminal 1, or 11:00 and 24:00 from Terminal 2.
• Step 1: the NPS counter in Terminal 1, 1st floor, between exits 1 and 2, booths 7 and 8, 9:00 to 18:00. Everyone goes here, even Terminal 2 passengers. Bring your passport and the application acceptance certificate.
• Step 2: before immigration, the Woori Bank exchange counter on the 3rd floor (near counter H in Terminal 1, counter A in Terminal 2), 9:00 to 21:00. Amounts of 10,000 US dollars or more go to the Woori Bank branch on B1, 9:00 to 16:00.
• Step 3: after immigration, collect the cash at the Woori Bank booth near gate 11 (Terminal 1) or gate 250 (Terminal 2), 9:00 to 21:00.

Currencies: 16, including US dollars, euros, yen and yuan. Not Korean won.

It depends on your refund eligibility, your flight time and your employer's report.

Next step: if you want cash at the airport, visit an NPS office in your last month and ask for 공항 지급 (airport payment).

Sources: NPS, lump-sum refund service at the airport; NPS, airport payment (Korean). Checked 11 October 2026.