South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service and Ministry of Employment and Labor said defined benefit (DB) pension plans returned 3.5% last year, well below the 8.5% return for defined contribution plans and 9.4% for individual retirement pensions. DB plans held ₩228.9 trillion ($165.0 billion), or 45.7%, of the country's ₩501.4 trillion ($361.4 billion) in retirement pension reserves, but 91.9% of their assets were in principal-and-interest-guaranteed products. Regulators said conservative allocation, returns trailing wage growth and short asset maturities are increasing employers' funding burden. They urged companies to set return targets at or above wage growth, align asset duration with benefit payouts and make greater use of pension-provider advice. The labor ministry also plans regular supervision of underfunded DB workplaces, with fines of up to ₩10 million ($7,200), while the FSS will strengthen provider guidance and include DB management information in an October retirement pension guidebook.