Vietnamese Workers in South Korea Only Pay Social Insurance in One Country

Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have signed an administrative deal on the implementation of a bilateral agreement on social insurance, VNA reported Friday.

The deal was inked by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) Nguyen Ba Hoan and Deputy Minister for Planning and Coordination of the RoK’s Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) Kim Hyejin in Sejong city on December 8.

At the signing. Photo: MOLISA

Over the past years, the number of Vietnamese citizens working in the RoK has accounted for the majority of Vietnamese guest workers. Together with the expansion of bilateral trade and investment, the number of RoK nationals coming to work in Vietnam has also been on the rise.

Before the above agreement takes effect, according to regulations, Vietnamese workers working in the RoK would have to pay compulsory social insurance in both countries, and vice versa with Korean workers working in Vietnam. Although paying social insurance into the pension fund twice, when returning home, the worker can only calculate and settle the pension according to the actual payment period in his/her country.

The bilateral agreement on social insurance is expected to create favorable conditions for the flow of workers and protect the rights and interests related to social insurance of workers from both countries.

It aims to avoid double social insurance contributions paid by Vietnamese and Korean citizens working in each other’s country.

This is the first bilateral agreement between Vietnam and the RoK in this field, and also the first bilateral agreement on social insurance between Vietnam and another country.

At the signing. Photo: MOLISA

The agreement, which will take effect from January 1 next year, will facilitate information sharing between the two countries’ enforcement agencies, helping to strengthen labor-management more conveniently and effectively.

The contents of the agreement aim to concretize the regulations and principles signed by the two Governments in the agreement related to retirement and death benefits according to Vietnam’s Social Insurance Law and the RoK’s National Pension Act; the principle of equal treatment between Vietnamese and Korean workers when working in the other country’s territory as with citizens of the host country in determining conditions for payment, enjoyment, and payment of rights social insurance benefits.

The agreement and administrative deal, when implemented, will meet the hopes and expectations of a large number of businesses and workers of both countries.

During the meeting, the delegation of MOHW and MOLISA discussed the situation of social insurance work in each country and assessed the advantages and disadvantages, as well as the potential for cooperation in the future.

MOLISA Deputy Minister Hoan highly appreciated the cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the RoK over the past 30 years since the two countries established diplomatic ties.

To promote their collaboration in the coming time, he suggested the two sides continue to coordinate closely in implementing the bilateral agreement on social insurance, improving the quality of labor management, sharing information, and implementing policies to ensure benefits for workers of the two countries in line with the signed agreement.

There are currently 250,000 Vietnamese people living and working in the RoK and about 200,000 Koreans living and working in Vietnam.

Hannah Nguyen

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