Article 57 (Disability Benefits), Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, as last amended by Act No. 14499, Dec. 27, 2016
Article 67 (Annuitants of Disability Pension), National Pension Act, as last amended by Act No. 14214, Nov. 30, 2016

In case where an employee gets a disability from an occupational disease or injury, disability pension by Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance will be provided.

General invalidity pension is provided by National Pension.


*Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act

Article 57 (Disability Benefits)(1) Disability benefits shall be paid to any worker who suffers from a physical disability, etc. after recovering from any injury or disease caused by reason of his/her duties.

(2) Disability benefits shall be paid in the form of a disability compensation annuity or lump-sum disability compensation as set out in attached Table 2 according to disability grades, and the standards for disability grades shall be prescribed by Presidential Decree.

(3) The beneficiary may choose between a disability compensation annuity or lump-sum disability compensation benefit referred to in paragraph (2): Provided, That a worker with such disability grade prescribed by Presidential Decree as a complete loss of work ability shall be paid a disability compensation annuity, and a worker who is not a Korean national and resides in a foreign country when the cause for claiming disability benefits occurs shall be paid a lump-sum disability compensation benefit.

(4) A disability compensation annuity may be paid in advance upon request of the beneficiary in an amount equivalent to 1/2 of the first year or two-year annuity (the first year to four-year annuity for any such worker as prescribed in the proviso to paragraph (3)). In such cases, interest, within the limit of 5/100, may be deducted from the amount paid in advance at the rate prescribed by Presidential Decree.

(5) Where a beneficiary’s entitlement to a disability compensation annuity is extinguished under Article 58, if the total number of days obtained by dividing the amount of the already paid annuity by each average wage as at the time when the annuity is paid is short of the number of days for lump-sum disability compensation benefits set forth in attached Table 2, the amount calculated by multiplying the insufficient number of days by the average wage as at the time when the entitlement is extinguished shall be paid in a lump sum to the relevant survivors or the relevant worker.

Article 67 (Annuitants of Disability Pension) (1) Where a person who participates or participated in the National Pension Plan has a mental or physical disability due to a disease or injury and meets all the following requirements, he/she shall be given a disability pension according to the level of disability for a period during which the disability persists from the base date the level of disability is determined (hereinafter referred to as "base date the level of disability is determined"):

1. He/she shall be over the age of 18 (provided, that where he/she participated in the National Pension Plan before the age of 18, referring to the date he/she participated in the National Pension Plan) and below the age of the payment of the old-age pension at the time of the first medical examination of the relevant disease or injury;

2. He/she shall fall under any of the following:

(a) A period during which he/she has paid pension premiums at the time of the first medical examination of the relevant disease or injury shall be at least one-thirds of the period subject to participation in the National Pension Plan;

(b) Of the period from five years before the date of the first medical examination of the relevant disease or injury to the date of the first medical examination, a period during which he/she has paid pension premiums shall be at least three years: Provided, That the foregoing shall not apply where the period of delinquent pension premiums of the period subject to participation in the National Pension Plan is at least three years;

(c) The period during which he/she has participated in the National Pension Plan at the time of the first medical examination of the relevant disease or injury shall be at least ten years.

(2) The base date the level of disability is determined under paragraph (1) shall be the dates prescribed by the following:

1. Where the date a disease or injury is completely cured falls before one and a half years have passed from the date of the first medical examination: The date a disease or injury is completely cured;

2. Where the date a disease or injury is completely cured does not falls until one and a half years have passed from the date of the first medical examination: The day following the date one and a half years have passed from the date of the first medical examination;

3. Where a person was not eligible to receive a disability pension on the day following the date one and a half years have passed from the date of the first medical examination under subparagraph 2, but his/her disease or injury gets worse thereafter: The earlier date of the date he/she made a demand for the payment of disability pension benefits (only applicable where he/she made a demand for the payment thereof before the age in which he/she is eligible to receive old-age pension benefits under Article 61: hereinafter referred to as "date of making a demand") and the date his/her disease or injury is completely cured;

4. Where a disease or injury at the time a person whose entitlement to receive a disability pension has not existed any longer pursuant to Article 70 (1) acquired his/her entitlement to receive the disability pension gets worse: The earlier date of the date of making a demand and the date a disease or injury is completely cured.

(3) Even though a person becomes eligible for payment of disability pension benefits pursuant to paragraph (1), where he/she falls under any of the following, the Service shall not pay him/her disability pension benefits:

1. Where the date of the first medical examination falls in the period during which he/she is excluded from persons eligible to participate in the National Pension Plan pursuant to the proviso to Article 6;

2. Where the date of the first medical examination falls in the period during which he/she emigrates overseas or loses his/her nationality;

3. Where he/she receives a lump-sum refund pursuant to Article 77.

(4) Degrees of disabilities concerning the level of disability shall be classified into the first grade, second grade, third grade, and fourth grade, and matters concerning criteria for the classification of degrees of disabilities and examination of the level of disability shall be prescribed by Presidential Decree.