South Korea, Ireland sign pension deal.

So does this mean English teachers from Ireland will be able to get a pension refund at the end of their contracts? Or at least have their contributions transferred into their domestic funds? From the Irish Times, via A Food Journey in Korea:

An agreement has been signed between Ireland and South Korea to protect workers’ pension rights.

Similar social security agreements are already in place between Ireland and the US, Australia, Canada and New Zealand.

Social and Family Affairs Minister Mary Hanafin said the deal will enable people who have paid social insurance in both Ireland and Korea to receive full pension entitlements.

Here's the press release from the Department of Social and Family Affairs. As commentor wylies99 said on the Dave's thread, make sure your employer pays into your pension, as there's a very good chance your school will have no idea about this new agreement. No word on what this agreement will actually mean for Irish in Korea, though.

If anyone can find any Korean-language information about this, please pass it along. Yes, in case you were wondering "Ireland" is hangeulized the same as "Island," meaning news searches for this story turned up a lot about the popular boyband FT Island.