The terms used in this Act are defined as follows: <Amended on Apr. 13, 2021; Jan. 11, 2022>
1. The term "employee" means an employee as defined in Article 2 (1) 1 of the Labor Standards Act;
2. The term "employer" means an employer as defined in Article 2 (1) 2 of the Labor Standards Act;
3. The term "wages" means wages as defined in Article 2 (1) 5 of the Labor Standards Act;
4. The term "average wages" means average wages as defined in Article 2 (1) 6 of the Labor Standards Act;
5. The term "benefits" means an annuity or lump sum paid to employees under a retirement benefit scheme or an individual retirement pension scheme prescribed in Article 25;
6. The term "retirement benefit scheme" means a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan, a SME retirement pension fund plan, and a retirement allowance system under Article 8;
7. The term "retirement pension plan" means a defined benefit plan, a defined contribution plan, and an individual retirement pension plan;
8. The term "defined benefit plan" means a retirement pension plan in which the amount of the benefits an employee will receive is predetermined;
9. The term "defined contribution plan" means a retirement pension plan in which the amount of an employer's contribution to pay benefits is predetermined;
10. The term "individual retirement pension plan" means a retirement pension plan established to accumulate and operate the lump sum paid by a participant or the contributions paid by an employer or a participant according to the participant's choice in which the amount of the benefits or contributions is not predetermined;
11. The term "participant" means an employee who has joined a retirement pension plan or a SME retirement pension fund plan;
12. The term "reserve" means money accumulated with contributions paid by an employer or a participant in order to pay benefits when a ground for the payment occurs, such as retirement of the participant;
13. The term "retirement pension trustee" means a person registered in accordance with Article 26 in order to operate and manage the retirement pension plan or to manage its assets.
14. The term "SME retirement pension fund plan" means a scheme of providing benefits to employees by creating and operating a mutual fund with contributions, etc. paid by at least two employers and employees of a small and medium enterprise to support a stable livelihood of the employees in their old age (limited to business employing not more than 30 regular employees; hereinafter the same shall apply);
15. The term "default option scheme" means a scheme of operating a reserve by a method designated in advance if the participants fail to voluntarily select the operation method of the reserve;
16. The term "default option management plan" means an operation method approved under Article 21-2 (1) to operate the reserve in accordance with a default option scheme.