Does your nationality pay Korean National Pension? The full list

A foreigner living in Korea is covered by the National Pension (국민연금) like a Korean. But the National Pension Service (NPS) applies reciprocity: it treats your nationality the way your country treats Koreans. The NPS publishes a country list. The current edition is dated 1 February 2025 and covers 134 countries. Anyone whose country is not on the list is covered.

Group A: covered at work and as an individual (76 countries)
Guyana, Cape Verde, Greece, the Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Commonwealth of Dominica, Germany, Denmark, Latvia, Russia, Romania, Luxembourg, Libya, Lithuania, Liechtenstein, Monaco, Morocco, Mauritius, Montenegro, Republic of Moldova, Malta, the U.S.A., Barbados, Bahama, Bermuda, Belgium, Bulgaria, Brazil, Servia, Sudan, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Switzerland, Sweden, Spain, Slovakia, Slovenia, Argentina, Iceland, Ireland, Albania, Azerbaijan, Estonia, the U.K., Austria, Australia, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Israel, Egypt, Italy, Japan, Jamaica, China, Czech Republic, Chile, Canada, Columbia, Croatia, Cyprus, Tanzania, Turkiye, Togo, Tunisia, Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, Palau, Peru, Portugal, Poland, France, Finland, the Philippines, Hungary, Hong Kong.

Group B: covered only through a workplace (37 countries)
Ghana, Gabon, Grenada, Taiwan, Laos, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Belize, Vietnam, Bolivia, Burundi, Bhutan, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Sierra Leone, Haiti, Algeria, Ecuador, El Salvador, Yemen, Jordan, Uganda, Indo, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Cameroon, Cambodia, Kenya, Costa Rica, Republic of Cote d'Ivoire, Congo, Kirgizstan, Thailand, Paraguay.

Group C: not covered (21 countries listed)
Georgia, Nigeria, South Africa, Nepal, East Timor, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Belarus, Brunei, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Swaziland, Armenia, Ethiopia, Iran (under the social security agreement), Kazakhstan, Tonga, Pakistan, Fiji.

Names are printed as the NPS prints them. The NPS heading for group C says 22 countries but lists 21.

What this means on a payslip
A worker from a group C country has no National Pension line, because the NPS does not cover them. For example, a South African employee's payslip shows no pension deduction. That is the rule, not an employer mistake. A worker from group A or B should see the deduction.

Also excluded by law: trainees, international students and diplomats, and anyone who hands in a certificate of coverage from a country that has a social security agreement with Korea.

It depends on your nationality and your visa. The NPS also keeps a table by visa type.

Next step: find your country above. If your payslip does not match your group, ask NPS on 1355.

Sources: NPS, eligibility by country (PDF); NPS, foreigners and the National Pension. Checked 11 October 2026.