A worker who has accrued at least four years in Korea's construction retirement mutual-aid scheme may now fall into a new extra-payment band. On September 30, 2026, the Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association (건설근로자공제회) expanded its special retirement mutual-aid payment (특별퇴직공제금) to a previously uncovered period: four years to under seven years of accrued contributions. The association says a qualifying worker receives an additional KRW 100,000 when claiming retirement mutual aid after leaving construction work. It is not a general KRW 100,000 grant to everyone who works in construction.
What is the additional payment?
The regular retirement mutual-aid claim and this extra payment are not interchangeable. The special payment is added to an eligible retirement mutual-aid claim and varies by how long contributions were accrued. The announcement's bands are:
| Accrued period | Special extra amount | Status on September 30, 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Four years to under seven years | KRW 100,000 | Newly added |
| Seven years to under ten years | KRW 300,000 | Unchanged |
| Ten years to under fifteen years | KRW 500,000 | Unchanged |
| Fifteen years or more | KRW 1,000,000 | Unchanged |
The amounts are the special additions, not the worker's complete accrued benefit, pay or any other severance entitlement. Existing seven-year-plus workers have not been moved down to the new KRW 100,000 tier. A person's calendar years in construction need not be identical to their recorded contribution period, so verify the association's own record.
Three checks before expecting a payment
- Contribution period: Look up your actual accrued period in the association's records. A memory of start and end dates at worksites is not enough to determine your band.
- Claim context: The release says the addition applies when an eligible worker leaves the construction industry and claims retirement mutual aid. Accruing four years does not itself trigger an immediate standalone transfer while you continue working.
- The correct band and current procedure: Confirm whether you fall in the newly added band or one of the previously existing bands. Use the association's current official instructions for individual claim requirements, submission route and payment processing. This one-page press release does not establish a specific filing screen or guarantee an individual payment date.
The association expects about 25,000 workers per year to benefit newly from the expansion. That is an estimate, not a count of confirmed awards or a prediction about any particular reader. The cover is a labeled AI-generated conceptual image, not a real document, recipient or government certificate. The explanatory cards were composed from the announced bands, not copied from an agency poster.
For a shorter Korean checklist, see the Life Mokcha Naver article. Check the official association for your own contribution history and current claiming instructions.
About the Author
The Life Mokcha editorial team (목차지기) distinguishes the new special-payment band from pre-existing bands and from the separate individual retirement mutual-aid claim.
References
- Construction Workers Mutual Aid Association, expansion announcement (September 30, 2026; Korean)
- Official press-release PDF (payment bands and effective date; checked September 30, 2026; Korean)
