In the context that Vietnam and Korea have established a strategic cooperative partnership, the cooperation between the two countries has been increasingly developing in all fields, including the field of labor and employment. The number of Vietnamese workers in Korea and Korean workers in Vietnam is increasing and both are obliged to comply with the laws of both countries; Their legitimate rights and interests are also protected by the laws of the two countries, including the right and obligation to participate in social insurance.

According to the assessment, most countries have regulations that employees are required to participate in social insurance, especially retirement insurance. In the context of increasing trade and investment exchanges in the world, the flow of labor between countries is also escalating. When employees come to another country to work, in principle, they will have to participate in social insurance there. Upon retirement, employees are entitled to a pension, based on the social insurance contributions they have previously paid in the country as well as abroad.

In case there is no bilateral or multilateral agreement on social insurance between countries, it will be difficult to receive pension when employees retire. There have been cases where it is not possible as there is no communication, connection or mutual recognition between insurance systems. Therefore, in order to protect the social insurance benefits of employees, numerous governments have tried to promote to sign an agreement on social insurance with the country where a great number of their citizens come to work.

Photos taken at the signing ceremony (source: Internet)

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese workers in Korea has accounted for a large proportion of the number of Vietnamese workers working abroad. Besides, along with the expansion of trade and investment exchanges between Vietnam and Korea, the number of Korean workers in Vietnam also tends to increase. Therefore, the signing of a bilateral agreement on social insurance between Vietnam and Korea is an urgent need, in order to create favorable conditions for the movement of workers as well as to protect the interests of social insurance for employees of the two countries.

Accordingly, this agreement aims to avoid paying social insurance twice for Vietnamese and Korean citizens. Specifically: Employees who are Vietnamese and Korean citizens are only obliged to pay social insurance premiums in one country; the time of payment of social insurance premiums will be mutually recognized by both parties; the time of participation in social insurance contributions of Vietnamese and Korean employees will be counted as the total time that such employee has contributed to social insurance in Vietnam and Korea - which is the basis for the VSS fund and the National Pension Service to make consideration for employees to enjoy the pension regime; the level of benefits that the social insurance fund of each country pays to the employee upon retirement will be based on the time and the level of contribution that the employee has paid to that fund; the calculation formula is prescribed by the laws of each country.

The agreement has been approved by the two sides, consisting of 5 parts with 24 articles providing for the scope of application, regulations related to retirement and survivorship benefits under Vietnam's 2014 Law on Social Insurance and Korea's National Pension Law; stipulates the principle of equal treatment between Vietnamese and Korean citizens working in the other country's territory as they do to citizens of the host country in determining the conditions for contribution, enjoyment and payment of social insurance benefits. One of the important contents of the agreement is to stipulate how to calculate the time as a basis for determining the employee's retirement regime, which is the total time that the employee has contributed to social insurance in both countries (cumulative) and the calculation of social insurance benefits is based on the laws of each country.