Research Shows Korean Men Retire Completely at Age 67.3

Korean laborers take early retirement from their work (fulltime job) in their early 50s, work 14 more years, and then completely retire from the labor market at an average age of 68.1.

This means that Korean laborers tend to work under unstable working conditions for a very long time after early retirement from their original work places. According to a document released by the Korea Development Institute on November 28, Koreans retire at the average age of 54.1, almost two years before the average age limit for retirement at companies, which is 56.

However, after an early retirement, people go through a second stage of labor for about 14 years, and completely retire at the age of 68.1.

Men retire from their original work at the average age of 54.4. They work for another 12.9 years in other jobs, and end their labor activities at age 67.3 on average.

Women turn out to retire earlier than men from their original work places, as the average early retirement age for women was 53.8. However, they work for a longer period of time after the first retirement – 14.5 years – and retire a year later than men in the labor market at the age of 68.3.

Almost half of all workers retire from their fulltime job before the average age limit. A total of 47.72 percent of men and 49.63 percent of women between the ages of 50 and 54 were found to be retiring from their fulltime job.

Yong Park parky@donga.com