Mr. Nguyen Van Quy (39 years old, from Thanh Hoa) went to Korea to work in 2013. During the 8 years working here, Mr. Quy fully participated in social insurance.

In 2021, Mr. Quy returned to Vietnam to apply for a job at a petrochemical refinery company in Nghi Son Industrial Park (Thanh Hoa). During more than 1 year working at this company, Mr. Quy paid social insurance according to his monthly salary.

In May 2022, Mr. Quy decided to quit his job and return to Korea to work for his old company until now. During more than 10 years of working in both Korea and Vietnam, he has never withdrawn social insurance even once.

Recently, Mr. Quy heard that the Social Insurance Law 2024 allows people who pay social insurance abroad to be considered for pension. Although he is very happy, he does not clearly understand the specific regulations and procedures.

Regarding the above issue, a representative of the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that, through the addition of regulations in cases where international treaties of which Vietnam is a member, the Social Insurance Law 2024 stipulates that the time of participation in social insurance of employees in Vietnam and abroad is calculated to consider the conditions for enjoying social insurance benefits.

This is the trend of the integration process, which will negotiate and sign bilateral agreements on social insurance between Vietnam and other countries.

Deputy Director of the Social Insurance Department (Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs) Nguyen Duy Cuong said that recently, a bilateral agreement on social insurance was signed between Vietnam and Korea. This is the first bilateral agreement between the two countries in this field and also the first bilateral agreement on social insurance between Vietnam and another country. This agreement will be applied from January 1, 2024.

Therefore, the Social Insurance Law 2024 has recorded the working process and social insurance payment period to calculate benefits for the group of employees who have worked abroad, as well as foreign employees working in Vietnam.

When countries sign bilateral agreements on social insurance, there are usually two major contents. First of all, it is to avoid paying social insurance twice for employees. At the same time, the time of social insurance payment will be mutually recognized by both parties.

The social insurance participation period of employees who are Vietnamese citizens or Korean citizens will be calculated as the total period that the employee has participated in social insurance in Vietnam and Korea.

This total time will be the basis for the Vietnam Social Security Fund and the Korean National Pension Fund to consider the conditions for employees to receive pension benefits.

The level of benefits that each country's social insurance fund pays to its employees upon retirement will be based on the time and level of contributions that the employee has made to that fund. The calculation formula is regulated by the laws of each country.

Thus, Vietnamese workers working in Korea who have paid social insurance in this country and paid social insurance in Vietnam, when returning home and meeting the conditions for pension, will have their total time of social insurance participation in both Vietnam and Korea calculated to consider their pension eligibility.