Early-Closure in Just 3 Days: Gyeongnam Provincial Residents' Pension to Recruit 20,000 More This Year

South Gyeongsang Province has decided to recruit an additional 20,000 subscribers this year for the "Gyeongnam Provincial Residents' Pension," which achieved an early-closure milestone last month by filling its quota just three days after enrollment began.

On the 10th, Governor Park Wansu held a press conference at the provincial government press center and announced, "We will swiftly carry out related procedures, including drawing up a supplementary budget bill, so that we can recruit an additional 20,000 people between April and May, if possible."

He added, "Taking into comprehensive consideration policy demand and policy conditions, we plan to expand the number of recruits in 2027, the second year of operating the Gyeongnam Provincial Residents' Pension, to at least 20,000."

The original goal was to recruit 100,000 subscribers over 10 years by enrolling 10,000 people each year starting this year. However, South Gyeongsang Province will now recruit a total of 130,000 people by enrolling 30,000 this year, 20,000 in 2027, and then 10,000 each year for the remaining eight years.

Park Wansu, governor of Gyeongnam Province, is announcing this year's measures to expand enrollment in the Gyeongnam Residents' Pension and plans to secure funding going forward. Reporter Lee Seryeong

In January, South Gyeongsang Province became the first in the country to launch the Gyeongnam Provincial Residents' Pension to help residents prepare for old age and to fill income gaps after retirement until they begin receiving public pensions such as the National Pension.

If a subscriber deposits 80,000 won per month, based on an annual payment amount, into an Individual Retirement Pension (IRP) account, South Gyeongsang Province will contribute an additional 20,000 won, allowing the subscriber to receive up to 240,000 won per year in support for a maximum of 10 years.

If a 50-year-old resident deposits 80,000 won every month, totaling 960,000 won per year, for 10 years in a time-deposit product with an annual compound interest rate of 2 percent, they will have paid in a total of 9.6 million won. When the province’s support of 240,000 won per year for 10 years, totaling 2.4 million won, is added, the subscriber will be able to receive around 13.02 million won as a pension from age 60 for five years (60 months), at a level of about 217,000 won per month.

Enrollment applications were accepted from January 19 through the "Gyeongnam Provincial Residents' Pension" website for residents born between 1971 and 1985, allocated according to the population ratio of each of the 18 cities and counties.

During this period, more than 102,000 people wishing to enroll accessed the residents' pension website, temporarily causing the server to go down. Reflecting its explosive popularity, the program reached its first-year target of 10,000 subscribers within three days of launch and closed early.

Subsequently, on the 5th, South Gyeongsang Province held a meeting attended by vice mayors and deputy county heads from the 18 cities and counties, where they agreed to recruit an additional 20,000 residents for this year’s pension enrollment.

Gyeongnam Provincial Pension 2026 Subscriber Expansion Plan image. Photo by Lee Seryeong

Governor Park explained the background of the additional recruitment, saying, "There was a surge of subscribers in the first income bracket with annual income of 38 million won or less, and residents in higher income brackets had no chance even to apply, leading to a flood of requests for additional recruitment," and added, "When residents’ demand is this concentrated, one way to manage policy and finances is to promptly adjust the project plan to fit reality."

He further explained, "In a situation where measures such as extending the retirement age, which are related to National Pension reform, remain uncertain, we can no longer delay support for residents’ income gaps. We also took into account that the 40s and 50s generation, which is the target of this program, has relatively low access to welfare benefits despite the burdens of raising children, supporting parents, and paying comprehensive income tax."

For this year’s recruitment of 10,000 subscribers, the pension funding is prepared by South Gyeongsang Province and the 18 cities and counties each covering half of the cost, with each side bearing a budget of 1.2 billion won.

With the recruitment quota increasing to 30,000, the province and the cities and counties each need to secure an additional 2.4 billion won in budget.

Governor Park said, "As far as possible, we will leave intact the budgets that support resident welfare and economic revitalization, while carrying out intensive expenditure restructuring, such as phasing out provincial projects with low effectiveness, and pursuing the securing of national funds through official proposals to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in order to stabilize and diversify the funding base for the residents' pension."

He added, "We will also seek ways to identify and build self-sustaining revenue mechanisms so that the residents' pension fund can be steadily accumulated."

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