Korean Military Disability vs Retirement Pension Calculator

Compare a military disability pension with the cost of returning a lump sum

This calculator helps Korean career military personnel and their families compare a disability pension with a retirement pension, or consider returning a previously paid lump sum to receive a disability pension.
A larger monthly payment may come with a substantial immediate repayment, so both the monthly difference and the recovery period matter.
A shorter service record alone should not replace a separate review of service-related disability entitlement.

Use your award decisions and repayment notices to prepare for consultation.
This page focuses on the choice between benefits and the additional future cash flows from repayment.
General rank retirement ages and early-retirement pension strategies belong to the separate military retirement calculator.
Without verified records, keep the evidence status as assumed and read every result as conditional.

1. Choose the correct decision first

Credited service months are recorded for consultation and the limited Article 28(4) difference calculation.
They do not automatically establish retirement-pension entitlement; aggregation, recognized periods and transitional provisions require confirmation around the 20-year boundary.
Article 2 also limits application for enlisted soldiers and certain personnel appointed without volunteering.
Do not apply this career-military annuity formula to those cases without confirming the statutory scope.

2. Prepare the income basis and the official grade

• Monthly income basis: use the statutory income basis for the month when the benefit event occurred under Article 9.
  Take-home pay or an average salary you calculated yourself is not a substitute.
  
• Disability grade: use the grade 1–7 established through review under Article 27 and Decree Article 31.
  Do not substitute a similarly numbered veterans-benefit grade.
  
• Retirement pension: enter the amount and entitlement verified in agency records.
  This tool does not recalculate historical service segments under different pension regimes.
  
• Monthly deductions: enter only your verified taxes, suspensions or other reductions for each pension.
  A deduction cannot exceed that benefit; the tool does not apply a common assumed tax rate.
  

The retirement date appears in the consultation record but does not determine the applicable law by itself.
Unknown evidence withholds the comparison, while assumed evidence labels it as hypothetical.
Confirmed means that you verified the inputs with records; it does not mean this website approves entitlement or a benefit election.

3. Grade rates used for the 2026 comparison

Article 27(1) multiplies the statutory monthly income basis by the rate for the awarded grade.
The illustration below uses the same fictional KRW 5,000,000 income basis for every grade.
The model discards fractions below KRW 1 when calculating the monthly disability amount; confirm actual award rounding separately.

Do not multiply these figures by a service-year retirement-pension accrual rate again.
Combining multiple impairments and determining a medical grade belong to the statutory annexes and the review process.
This calculator does not infer a grade from symptoms or medical descriptions.

4. Prefer an official repayment notice

Article 28(5)–(6) requires relevant recipients of a retirement lump sum, retirement-pension lump sum or pension-deduction lump sum to return it with interest when they become eligible for the disability pension.
This obligation is not limited to a retirement lump sum received after fewer than 20 years of service.
Check every applicable payment against the agency notice.

Enter one year:rate pair per line; missing years, duplicate years and malformed entries are rejected.
An entered 0% rate is different from an unknown rate.
Combine principal only when its receipt month is the same; use the official notice for payments received in different months.
The 20% rate input ceiling is a software range, not a statutory rate or financial recommendation.
Any future-year rate is an assumption until actually verified.

5. Cumulative differences and break-even formulas

Break-even is the first whole month when the added pension receipts cover repayment.
No initial cost and a nonnegative monthly difference produces month 0; a positive repayment with a nonpositive monthly difference cannot be recovered under fixed assumptions.
The search extends to 1,200 months and distinguishes a result beyond that range from mathematical non-recovery.
A lower disability payment is not reported as a favorable immediate recovery merely because there is no initial cost.

A previously received lump sum is already a common asset at the comparison date.
Subtracting repayment principal from the disability scenario and adding the same historical principal to the baseline would double-count it.
Only future incremental cash flows are compared here.

6. Use your records step by step

1. Select the two-pension choice or the keep-versus-return lump-sum decision.
   
2. Set the evidence status and enter retirement date, credited service months, the benefit-event income basis and the reviewed grade.
   
3. Verify monthly benefits and deductions, then check whether any previously paid lump sum requires return.
   
4. Prefer the principal and interest on an official notice.
   For the estimate, enter receipt and application months and every applicable annual rate.
   
5. Change the expected receipt period and discount rate to compare nominal receipts with present values.
   
6. Save the consultation TXT and confirm entitlement, repayment and payment options with the Armed Forces Financial Management Corps (국군재정관리단).
   

Number inputs accept commas and preserve the text while you edit; limits are applied when editing ends.
Editing hides the previous result and its export, so calculate again for the new conditions.
Changing an application month can change interest even if an earlier repayment notice remains on screen.

7. Check the fictional examples

The separate interest worksheet example uses receipt in 2024-12, application in 2026-01, KRW 50,000,000 principal and fictional annual rates of 3% for 2025 and 4% for 2026.
The first 12 months add KRW 1,500,000; the remaining month adds approximately KRW 171,667.
Estimated total repayment is approximately KRW 51,671,667.
These are fictional rates and must not be treated as your official payable amount.

8. Interpret changes in period, grade and discount rate

A positive monthly advantage can still produce a negative cumulative result when repayment is large and the horizon is short.
With disability at KRW 1,950,000, retirement at KRW 1,800,000 and repayment of KRW 52,000,000, recovery takes 347 nominal months because the monthly advantage is only KRW 150,000.
The 27-month recovery from the lump-sum example cannot be transferred to this two-pension comparison.

A higher discount rate reduces the present value of later pension payments.
It is an assumption, not a life-expectancy or investment forecast.
Use periods and cash needs that you can discuss with the agency.
The grade table changes only the grade while keeping all other inputs fixed and marks your selected grade with ★.
Rows where the fixed deduction exceeds that grade’s pension are withheld instead of creating a negative benefit.

9. Right-loss differences and veterans benefits need separate review

Article 28(4) addresses a recipient with service under 20 years who loses entitlement under Article 28(2) because the disability no longer meets a qualifying grade.
The separate reference amount is the positive difference between the retirement lump sum payable at retirement and disability pensions actually received.
For example, KRW 50,000,000 minus KRW 39,000,000 gives KRW 11,000,000.
Repayment interest is not added as a refund, and non-application or voluntarily giving up a choice is not treated as this kind of right loss.

For someone with retirement-pension entitlement, Article 28(3) has separate re-selection and next-month payment rules after a grade change or right loss.
Article 18(3) excludes the specified veterans benefits from same-kind benefit coordination, but it does not automatically approve veterans registration or every allowance.
Do not add an unverified veterans payment to this pension comparison.

10. Frequently asked questions