National Pension Service

This article is about South Korea's NPS. For other nations, see pension system. For other uses, see National pension.

The National Pension Service (NPS; Korean: 국민연금공단; Hanja: 國民年金公團; RR: Gukminyeongeumgongdan) is a public pension fund in South Korea. It is the third largest in the world^[1] with over $800 billion in assets, and is the largest investor in South Korea.^[2]

National Pension Service

Native name	국민연금공단 國民年金公團
Romanized name	Gukminyeongeumgongdan
Company type	Government-linked company Pension fund (Sovereign wealth fund)
Industry	Investment management
Founded	1988
Headquarters	Deokjin District, Jeonju, South Korea
Key people	Kim Sung Joo, chairman and chief executive officer
Owner	Government of South Korea
Parent	Ministry of Health and Welfare
Website	www.nps.or.kr

It is looking to buy a portfolio of blue-chip stocks from emerging markets.^[3][4]

On January 30, 2017, NPS opened up an office in New York City's One Vanderbilt.^[5]

The NPS is currently^[when?] in annual surplus, recent surpluses have been between 1% and 5% of GDP.^[6]

Timeline

• December, 1986 – Promulgated the Nation Pension Act
• September, 1987 – Established the National Pension Corporation
• January, 1988 – Implemented the national pension system (Limited to workplaces with 10 or more full-time employees)
• January, 1992 – Compulsory coverage included workplaces with five or more full-time employees
• January, 1993 – Commenced Special Old-age Pension benefit payment
• April, 1995 – Established the National Pension Research Institute
• July, 1995 – Compulsory coverage was extended to farmers and fishermen in rural areas
• August, 1995 – Compulsory coverage was extended to workplace-based foreigners
• April, 1999 – Compulsory coverage expanded to majority population in Korea (compulsory coverage in urban areas)
• November, 1999 – Launched the National Pension Fund Management Center
• July, 2003~2006 – Gradually expanded compulsory coverage to corporations and workplaces with less than five full-time employees
• July, 2007 – Renamed as the "National Pension Service"^[7]
• May, 2009 – Commenced the Retirement Planning Service
• May, 2009 – Launched NPS International Service Center
• January, 2011 – Established NPS International Center (Integrated the former International Cooperation Department and the NPS International Service Center)
• January, 2011 – Consigned the affairs in relation to collection of contribution to the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS)
• April, 2011 – Implemented a system for assessment and registration of the disabled (all levels), in accordance with the Welfare of Disabled Persons Act
• October, 2011 – Commenced support programs for the disabled
• December, 2012 – Determined the scope of income of an insured under the National Basic Living Security Act
• July, 2014 – Support for the Basic Pension operation
• January, 2015 – NPS headquarters relocation to Jeonju
• December, 2015 – Implementation of Retirement Planning Service
• February, 2017 – NPSIM(National Pension Service Investment Management) relocation to Jeonju

Solvency

The scheme is currently in annual surplus. According to projections published 27 January 2023 by the NPS, at the current contribution rates and replacement rate, surpluses are projected to remain until 2041, and the fund to remain solvent until 2055. Due to demographic changes projected to continue, in order for the scheme to remain solvent in the long term it is suggested that, in the next few years, there be an adjustment to the contribution rate somewhere between 1 and 2%.^[8]

Notes

1. "Korean fund buys stake in Colonial Pipeline". FT. August 23, 2010.
2. "Korean National Pension Fund Returns 6.81%". ai-cio.com. July 15, 2019.
3. Jung-hwan, Hwang; Sul-gi, Lee (18 July 2021). "NPS to raise exposure to Kosdaq-listed blue chips".
4. Ebosele, Lucky (16 November 2023). "South Korean Pension Fund Sees 40% Profit on $20M Coinbase Bet".
5. Murray, Barbara (30 January 2017). "SL Green Partners Up on $3B NYC Office Project".
6. "OECD (2022), OECD Reviews of Pension Systems: Korea". OECD iLibrary. OECD Publishing, Paris. 2022-09-22. Retrieved 2023-07-13.
7. "기록물 생산기관 변천정보 > 기관연혁 상세정보". theme.archives.go.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-04-16.
8. "Ministry of Health & Welfare : News & Welfare Services > Announcement of National Pension Fund Estimate". Ministry of Health and Welfare. 2023-02-01. Retrieved 2023-07-13.

External links

• National Pension Service(In English)