Entrust Farmland and Receive Pension... Enrollment Age Lowered from 65 to 60 Years Old

Measures to Revitalize Farmland Pension... Implementation or Legal Amendment Within Next Year
Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs "Preference for Low-Income and Long-Term Farmers"

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] The age for subscribing to the Farmland Pension will be lowered from 65 to 60 years old.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs announced on the 2nd that it has prepared a "Plan to Revitalize the Farmland Pension Project" to mark the 10th anniversary of the introduction of the Farmland Pension. The Farmland Pension, introduced in 2011, is a system where farmland is pledged as collateral to the Korea Rural Community Corporation in exchange for living expenses.

First, to expand the number of Farmland Pension recipients, the subscription age criterion has been lowered from 65 to 60 years old.

The ministry explained that this plan was prepared considering the steady demands from the National Assembly and the media to lower the age to strengthen support for farmers, the need for lump sums before age 65 for purposes such as children's education, the relatively lower subscription age criteria for similar products like the Housing Pension, and the increasing subscription rate of the Farmland Pension among those aged 65 to 69.

The proportion of lifetime-type products to better guarantee the elderly farmers' retirement life will be expanded. Preferential products targeting low-income farmers and long-term farmers will be introduced, and the subscription criteria for farmland pledged as collateral will be relaxed.

To prevent cases of early termination of the Farmland Pension, subscribers will be allowed to switch products and make early repayments of pension debts if they wish. To protect pension rights, methods such as supplementary registration and trust registration will also be introduced.

To promote efficient use of farmland through pensions, the management transfer-type product will be improved, and a rental-type product will be newly established. Additionally, by promoting systems such as farmland collateral purchase, high-quality farmland will be supported for farmers in need, including young farmers and returnees to farming.

Among the measures, lowering the subscription age, introducing preferential products, relaxing subscription conditions for collateral farmland, allowing subscribers to change products, and introducing early repayment systems aim to revise laws and guidelines within this year and implement them starting January next year.

The introduction of supplementary registration and trust registration systems, and farmland use efficiency measures such as the farmland collateral purchase system will be pursued through legal revisions next year and implemented in stages.

An official from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said, "Through system improvements, we aim to help more farmers secure stable retirement lives with the Farmland Pension and establish an institutional foundation to secure and provide high-quality farmland to farmers in need. We will do our best to ensure smooth follow-up measures such as legislative procedures and budget procurement in cooperation with related ministries and corporations."

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