Finland Times

 

File picture of Finnish social service office in Helsinki. Photo Lehtikuva.

Finland and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on Wednesday signed a social security agreement in Soul.

 

State Secretary to Prime Minister Paula Lehtomäki and Vice Minister Cho Tae-yul signed the deal on behalf of Finland and Korea respectively, said a press release of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

 

The agreement affects the social security of travellers between these two countries.

 

The agreement concerns pensions and unemployment insurance. It will enter into force after both Finland and Korea complete their internal implementation measures.

 

The agreement includes regulations regarding the so-called posted employees. On the basis of the agreement, an employee posted by a Finnish employer to Korea is covered by the Finnish earnings-related pension legislation and unemployment insurance during his or her employment in Korea.

 

The coverage applies for a period of five years, at the most. During that period, no pension or unemployment insurance contributions are paid to Korea, according to the agreement.

 

Through the agreement, double insurance payments are avoided, which is important both to Finnish enterprises operating in Korea and to their posted employees.

 

Correspondingly, employees posted to Finland from Korea will remain covered by the Korean system and the Finnish earnings-related pension system or unemployment insurance will not affect them.

 

The agreement also includes regulations on paying pension from one contracting state to another, if the pension recipient no longer lives in the state paying the pension, which is already possible under the Finnish earnings-related pension legislation.

 

However, an agreement secures reciprocal payment of pensions for people travelling from one country to another, according to the release.