Surge in 'twilight divorce' drives 8.5-fold rise in split pension recipients

The number of people receiving a share of their ex-spouse's national pension has risen roughly 8.5-fold over the past decade, driven by a sharp increase in late-life divorces.

However, a structural flaw in the current system means that if an ex-spouse withdraws pension contributions as a lump sum instead of receiving regular pension payments, the other party loses all right to claim a share — prompting calls for urgent reform.

According to a report released Tuesday by National Pension Research Institute researchers Yu Ho-seon and Lee Ye-in, the number of split pension recipients grew from 11,802 in 2014 to 99,818 as of June 2025.

Women accounted for about 88 percent of recipients, totaling 80,491.

The average monthly benefit per recipient also rose, from about 184,000 won as of end-2015 to about 290,000 won as of June 2025.

Researchers attributed the surge largely to the rise of so-called "twilight divorces" — separations among couples married for decades.

Data from the Ministry of Statistics show that divorces among couples married 20 years or more rose from 9.8 percent of all divorces in 1997 to 36.2 percent in 2024, more than a threefold increase. Divorces among couples married 30 years or more also climbed, from 10.9 percent in 2017 to 16.6 percent in 2024.

The report highlights a structural inequity in the current National Pension Act's split pension regime.

Under existing rules, a divorced spouse can only receive a pension share if the ex-spouse draws a regular old-age pension. If the ex-spouse has fewer than 10 years of contributions and reaches retirement age — or withdraws accumulated premiums as a lump-sum refund due to emigration, death or other reasons — the divorced party's right to a pension share is extinguished entirely.

In practice, the number of national pension lump-sum refund recipients stood at 198,663 as of end-2024. Reaching age 60 was the most common reason, accounting for 69.62 percent of cases, followed by emigration at 19.43 percent.

As of end-June 2025, the average lump-sum refund was about 6.55 million won, while the highest recorded payout reached 134.11 million won.

Even when one spouse walks away with a substantial lump sum, the ex-spouse receives nothing — even if they had already filed a pre-claim for a pension share.

To address this inequity, the report recommends that the government quickly introduce a "split lump-sum" system as a near-term fix — a mechanism already in place for the civil servant pension and the private school teachers' pension since 2018.

The report said the split lump-sum should be available only when the marriage lasted at least five years and the divorce occurred before the ex-spouse filed for a lump-sum refund. Lump sums paid out before the divorce are likely to have been spent on shared living expenses, the report noted, making retroactive recovery complicated.

The report proposed that eligibility be triggered on the date all three conditions are met — a marriage and contribution period of at least five years, a divorce, and the ex-spouse's filing for a lump-sum refund — and that the right to claim expire after five years.

However, the report also flagged as a consideration setting a minimum threshold of 5 million won on the lump-sum amount eligible for splitting, to prevent administrative costs and unnecessary notarization fees from arising over small-value claims.

In the longer term, the report said Korea should follow the lead of countries such as Germany and Japan and shift to a contribution-record splitting system, under which pension contribution histories and earnings records are divided equally at the time of divorce. Such a system would free divorced spouses from dependence on their ex-partner's pension status and provide independent protection against risks such as disability or death after divorce.