1. The Agreement on Social Security between the Government of the Republic of Korea and the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ("the Agreement"), which was signed on July 9, 2019, in Montevideo, will enter into force on November 1, 2021.

2. The Agreement will exempt Korean workers dispatched to Uruguay from paying social insurance premiums to Uruguay for five years.

3. The Agreement will also allow the totalization of the periods of pension coverage in the ROK and Uruguay for those who are not eligible for pension benefits due to their shorter-than-required periods of pension coverage.

o For those whose totalized periods of pension coverage still fail to meet the requirement for eligibility for benefits, their periods can be aggregated with those completed in a third country, provided the ROK and Uruguay both have concluded a bilateral social security agreement with that third country that stipulates the totalization of periods of pension coverage.

o Even if the periods of pension coverage are totalized, the pension amount will be paid proportionately in line with the periods of pension coverage completed in each country.

4. With the entry into force of the Agreement with Uruguay, the ROK has social security agreements with a total of 37 countries in effect. The Korean government will continue to actively seek the conclusion of social security agreements; to relieve insurance premium burdens of Korean nationals and enterprises, and to improve their entitlements to benefits.

5. For more details about the Agreement, including applying for certificates to be exempted from paying social security premiums to Uruguay as well as for pension benefits from the country, please call the Center for International Affairs at the National Pension Service at 063-713-7101.