Constitutional Court Rules "Limiting Survivor Pension Payments if Pension Insurance Premiums Are Not Paid Within the Prescribed Period is Constitutional"

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The Constitutional Court has ruled that a legal provision preventing survivors' pensions from being paid if pension insurance premiums are not paid within the prescribed period does not violate the right to equality.

On the 5th, the Constitutional Court announced that it made a constitutional decision with an 8 (constitutional) to 1 (unconstitutional) opinion in a constitutional complaint case filed by A, the spouse of a deceased National Pension subscriber, who argued that Article 85, Clause 2 of the former National Pension Act, which restricts survivors' pension payments due to a short pension insurance premium payment period, violates the right to equality.

Article 85, Clause 2 of the former National Pension Act stipulates that survivors' pensions cannot be paid if the period during which pension insurance premiums were paid is shorter than two-thirds of the total days combining the pension insurance premium payment period and the non-payment period.

The Constitutional Court stated, "The National Pension system is a system that guarantees income by considering contribution levels based on the subscriber's insurance premiums as resources," and added, "Excluding those who have not made financial contributions for a certain period from the benefit recipients is an inevitable measure for the stability of pension finances."

It further added, "Since survivors who do not receive survivors' pensions can receive a lump-sum refund, it is difficult to see that severe damage or significant disadvantages occur to the survivors."

Moreover, the court ruled, "The provision under review aims to treat differently the survivors of those who have faithfully paid insurance premiums throughout the subscription period and those who have not, so it is difficult to see that it infringes on the claimant's right to equality."

After A's spouse, a National Pension workplace subscriber, passed away, A applied to the National Pension Service for survivors' pension payment but was denied payment on the grounds that the spouse had defaulted on the employee's share of pension insurance premiums at the workplace.

In response, A argued that since employers are required to pay employees' pension insurance premiums monthly for workplace subscribers, denying survivors' pensions to employees because the employer did not pay the premiums violates the principle of personal responsibility.

Additionally, A filed a constitutional complaint, arguing that the provision in the National Pension Act restricting survivors' pension payments, unlike health insurance and employment insurance which do not impose disadvantages for premium defaults, violates the principle of equality.

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