Paying National Pension for past months: only months you lived in Korea count

Since 31 August 2026, the National Pension Service (NPS, 국민연금공단) checks more strictly when a foreign member asks to pay contributions for past months. This late payment is called chunap (추납).

What changed

• You can only pay for months when you actually lived in Korea. Having foreigner registration or a visa for that time is no longer enough.
• Along with your other papers, such as proof of marriage, you must hand in your entry and exit record (출입국에 관한 사실증명).
• A month counts only if that record shows you were in Korea for 15 days or more in that month.

Planned, not yet in force

• The government plans to change the law so that chunap is only open to people from countries that let Koreans living there make late payments too. This has not started.
• On 3 September, NPS also said a wider review of late payments is still being studied and nothing is decided yet.

Next step: before you pay anything, get your entry and exit record, count the months with 15 or more days in Korea, and ask NPS on 1355 which months can count.

Source: National Pension Service press note, 1 September 2026. Checked 14 September 2026.