Court Rules on Pension Division for Short Marriages

A recent ruling by the Seoul Administrative Court has clarified that individuals who were married for less than five years are not eligible for a division of old-age pension benefits upon divorce, regardless of the divorce date. On January 12, the court, led by Judge Kim Jun-young, ruled in favor of a man in his sixties, referred to as A, who had filed a lawsuit against the National Pension Service (NPS) regarding the adjustment of his pension payments following a divorce.

A was married to B in 2000 and divorced in 2017 after approximately 17 years of marriage. However, they had been living separately since 2003, resulting in a practical cohabitation period of only 2 years and 6 months. After A began receiving his old-age pension in June 2013, B filed for a division of the pension in January 2022. According to the National Pension Act, a spouse who has been married for at least five years can claim a share of the pension upon divorce.

The NPS calculated the marriage duration for pension division as 78 months up to 2013, granting B a 50% share based on the divorce date, which reduced A's pension by the same percentage. A contested this decision, arguing that the actual duration of their marriage should only account for the 2 years and 6 months they lived together.

In a previous ruling in December 2016, the Constitutional Court had declared that the law requiring the inclusion of periods of separation in the marriage duration was unconstitutional, as it contradicted the principle of equitable distribution of jointly acquired property. This led to amendments in the National Pension Act, which took effect in June 2018. Despite this, the NPS applied the old law to B's case, as they divorced in February 2017.

In May of the previous year, the Constitutional Court reiterated that applying different rules based on the divorce date violated the principle of equality. Consequently, the court ruled that B did not qualify as a spouse with a marriage duration of over five years, thus denying her claim to A's pension benefits. The NPS has since filed an appeal against the first-instance ruling.