"If You Don't Apply, My KRW 1.7 Million Will Be Gone"... Unclaimed National Pension Refunds Vanish After 'This Deadline'

Nearly 65,000 subscribers have not claimed lump-sum refunds
2,355 expected to lose their rights when the statute of limitations expires next year
NPS sends notices by mail and text, but offers no automatic payments

The number of cases in which National Pension subscribers lose their right to claim a lump-sum refund of their contributions because the statute of limitations expires is rising every year. These subscribers did not meet the minimum contribution period and failed to claim the refunds themselves. Critics say the National Pension Service (NPS) continues to adhere to the current “application-based” principle even though it knows the eligible subscribers, the amounts due and the expiration dates, repeatedly causing subscribers’ valuable assets to revert to the fund’s surplus reserves.

Image accompanying the article for illustrative purposes. Getty Images Bank.

KRW 182.9 billion in unclaimed refunds... More than 65,000 people

According to data submitted by the NPS to Lee Sohee, a People Power Party lawmaker on the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee, a total of 65,527 subscribers did not claim their lump-sum refunds between 2020 and the first half of 2026, despite becoming eligible for payment, such as upon reaching pension eligibility age. As a result, the total amount of unclaimed lump-sum refunds retained by the NPS has reached KRW 182.9 billion.

If subscribers do not meet the minimum contribution period of 10 years, the National Pension pays them a “lump-sum refund” consisting of the contributions they paid, plus a prescribed amount of interest. However, the current system is based on the principle that payment is made only if the eligible person files a claim. This is believed to have left many subscribers unable to collect their refunds because they do not understand the system or have changed their contact information.

Funds revert to the fund after 10 years... 2,355 people set to lose their rights next year

The problem is that if subscribers do not file a claim within 10 years of becoming eligible for a refund, the statute of limitations expires and their right to receive payment is extinguished entirely. Refunds that remain unpaid after the statute of limitations expires ultimately revert to the NPS fund’s “surplus reserves.”

The number of subscribers who lost their entitlement after the statute of limitations expired has been rising each year: 764 in 2024, 946 in 2025 and 646 in the first half of 2026 alone. Furthermore, 2,355 subscribers are expected to reach the 10-year statute-of-limitations deadline next year. The total amount that could go unclaimed and revert to the fund’s surplus reserves is KRW 4.019 billion, or an average of approximately KRW 1.71 million per person.

“Not an application-based system, but neglect”... Calls for automatic payments

Critics say the NPS’s passive administration is behind the continuing loss of entitlements as the statute of limitations expires. The NPS currently sends claim notices by mail and text message, but it does not operate an automatic payment system that uses account information collected in advance to deposit refunds directly.

Lee strongly criticized the NPS, saying, “When collecting contributions, it actively receives payments through methods such as automatic debits, but when it comes to returning the money, it waits for subscribers to file claims. That is not an ‘application-based system’; it is ‘neglect.’” Lee emphasized, “The NPS knows who is entitled to receive the money, how much is due and when the statute of limitations expires. The system that extinguishes people’s rights simply because they did not apply must be improved.” She added, “At this year’s parliamentary audit, I called for proactive notices to those whose claims are set to expire next year and for consideration of including them in an automatic payment system. I will continue to monitor whether the NPS follows through.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.