Sejong Expands Basic Pension Eligibility to Bottom 40% Income Bracket... Up to 300,000 KRW for Single-Person Households

[Asia Economy (Sejong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Sejong City will expand the basic pension payment target from the current bottom 20% income bracket to 40% starting this month.

The city announced on the 20th that, following the enforcement of the Basic Pension Act amendment, from this month, seniors aged 65 or older in the bottom 40% income bracket will receive a basic pension of up to 300,000 KRW per month for single-person households and up to 480,000 KRW per month for couple households.

The payment recipients are those whose combined recognized income, calculated by converting the income and assets of themselves and their spouse based on asset investigation results, is below the selection criteria. The low-income selection criteria for the bottom 40% income bracket are 380,000 KRW for single-person households and 608,000 KRW for couple households. Those with recognized income below these amounts are included in the monthly maximum 300,000 KRW payment target.

Additionally, the timing for increasing the standard pension amount to reflect inflation will be adjusted from April to January. The standard pension amount will be raised from the previous 253,750 KRW to 254,760 KRW this year.

Applications for the basic pension can be made at the local eup/myeon/dong community service centers or the National Pension Service branch office in the month prior to turning 65, and existing recipients do not need to reapply.

Lee Han-yu, head of the Elderly and Disabled Division of the city, said, “We hope the amendment to the Basic Pension Act will help low-income seniors struggling with basic living. The city will ensure that a stable income base is paid without any issues going forward.”

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