Moon only living president to receive monthly pension of 14 million won after retirement

President Moon Jae-in speaks at luncheon with National Assembly members held in Cheong Wa Dae, Sept. 3. Yonhap

By Yoon Ja-young

After retirement, President Moon Jae-in will get 13.9 million won ($11,875) a month as a pension. He will be the only living former president of Korea who is allowed to receive the presidential pension, as the other four former presidents who are still alive were deprived of this right after being impeached and removed from office, or jailed.

According to Ministry of Interior and Safety data submitted to Rep. Lee Young of the main opposition People Power Party, Moon will be paid around 166.9 million won annually following retirement, or 13.9 million won a month. His term ends in May of next year.

Moon's annual salary, meanwhile, is expected to be 250.1 million won next year, which is a 5 percent increase from this year. However, he has been freezing his own salary since 2019 by voluntarily returning any pay raises.

Currently, none of Moon's living predecessors are receiving a presidential pension. However, former first lady Son Myung-soon, wife of the late former President Kim Young-sam, and former first lady Kwon Yang-sook, wife of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, are receiving pensions as surviving spouses.

The four former presidents who are still living ― Park Geun-hye, Lee Myung-bak, Roh Tae-woo and Chun Doo-hwan ― have been deprived of the right to receive the presidential pension, as they were put behind bars. The law states that pensions are not offered to former presidents who were removed or resigned from office after being impeached or jailed.

The amount Moon receives from the government will be larger than 13.9 million won per month, as, on top of this, former presidents are provided other benefits, such as car and travel, and medical expenses and subsidies to pay domestic staff.

After retirement, President Moon and first lady Kim Jung-sook plan to move to Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province, where they currently have a private residence. They bought a two-story house nearby and land around it to build a new private residence where they will live. As they have to be protected, the government has also allocated funds to build a facility for bodyguards there.

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