More Than KRW 1.3 Billion in Pensions Unrecovered... Funds Leak Away Amid Teachers Pension’s Poor Recovery Efforts

[Financial News] The Teachers Pension, the pension fund for private school employees, has failed to recover more than KRW 1.3 billion in improperly received pension payments on time, leaving the money either written off or uncollected. More than KRW 500 million can no longer be recovered because the statute of limitations expired after the agency responded too slowly.
According to data obtained from the Teachers Pension by Kim Hee-jung, chair of the National Assembly Education Committee and a member of the People Power Party, improper pension payments totaled 211 cases worth KRW 3.837 billion over the past five years, from 2022 through August 2026.
The biggest problem lies in the inadequate recovery efforts after cases are detected. Although the Teachers Pension confirmed the improper payments, it failed to recover funds in 25 cases, totaling KRW 804 million. Late interest resulting from the delayed recovery amounted to approximately KRW 100 million, or KRW 97 million.
In addition, the agency missed the recovery window, allowing the five-year statute of limitations to expire. As a result, it wrote off nine pension cases worth KRW 555 million as uncollectible. In effect, more than KRW 1.36 billion in pension funds was left unaccounted for because of the agency’s poor management.
By type, 35 cases involved recipients concealing the finalization of a criminal sentence while they were still employed and continuing to collect their pensions. They accounted for KRW 2.825 billion, or 73.6% of the total improper payments. This was followed by 118 cases involving the loss of pension eligibility, such as after death, worth KRW 709 million, and 58 cases in which recipients concealed their reappointment, worth KRW 303 million.
The amount of improper payments rose sharply from KRW 166 million in 2022 to KRW 1.066 billion in 2023 and KRW 1.204 billion in 2024. Although it temporarily fell to KRW 465 million in 2025, KRW 936 million had already been detected by August this year, putting the figure back on an upward trend.
Kim Hee-jung said, "The Teachers Pension is a precious asset that safeguards the lives of private school employees after retirement, and not a single won should be allowed to leak away." She emphasized, "The management system must be overhauled from the ground up by strengthening data links with relevant institutions, including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (MOIS) and the Supreme Court of Korea, establishing a preventive system that checks death, criminal sentencing and reappointment information in real time, and taking proactive recovery measures before the statute of limitations expires."
[email protected] Kim Man-gi Reporter