A baby boomer veteran retired in Germany before relocating to South Korea. He says the healthcare is affordable and he can travel easily.

Danny Keay, 60, lives with his wife, Mi ok Jeon, 57, in Daejeon, South Korea.

After 22 years in the US Army, Danny Keay wanted to enjoy his retirement by traveling abroad. He’s been able to do that by living in South Korea.

He retired in Germany in 2015, but six years later, he moved to South Korea to be closer to his wife’s family. Keay, 60, said his healthcare options are cheap and efficient in South Korea, and his military-pension income allows him to travel around Asia.

Keay, 60, receives over $2,900 a month from his military-retirement pension in addition to a monthly pension for veterans with disabilities. He also receives payouts from previous investments in a Vanguard Mutual Fund and has money from selling his home in Germany.

“The disability pay combined with my retirement makes living at my age very comfortable,” Keay said. “With that money, I definitely have not only security but also financial independence.”

Keay is one of nearly 1,000 US Army retirees who’ve settled in South Korea, according to a Department of Defense report published in 2023. Only Germany has more Army retirees living outside the US.

Keay said he has better healthcare coverage and quality of life in South Korea. He doesn’t think he’d have the same disposable income if he lived in the US.

A childhood interest in the military sparked a career

Keay was born in Malvern, a town in Worcestershire, England, and was raised in West Germany. His father was a member of the Royal Air Force and served in World War II. He said he was fascinated with the military and the US from a young age.

In 1989, while living in Germany, Keay met his ex-wife, who was a US soldier. A year later, Keay moved to Alabama with her, and he enlisted in the US Army in 1992.

Keay said he was stationed in various states in the US for 10 years, and he obtained his US citizenship before he was assigned to outposts in Germany and the Netherlands in 2002.

Keay said that when he retired from the US Army, he had no intention of returning to the US. Meanwhile, he and his first wife divorced.

In 2016, Keay visited the Yongsan district of Seoul, where he met his current wife, Mi ok Jeon. They initially lived in Germany, but he said Mi ok had difficulty adjusting to life in Waurichen, a small village near Germany’s border with Belgium and the Netherlands, he said. He added that Mi ok Jeon’s son, who lived in South Korea, had a child and she wanted to be closer to her family.

Life in South Korea is convenient and efficient

In 2021, Keay sold the home he bought in Waurichen, and the couple moved to Daejeon, one of the largest cities in South Korea.

Keay and his wife rent an apartment in a complex in Daejeon, South Korea.

Keay and his wife rent an apartment in a complex that has a great community and quality of life, including underground badminton and tennis courts, a fitness center, and a mini library, he said.

He said he made an up-front payment of $220,000 when they signed the lease to negotiate a cheaper monthly rent. He pays $3,000 a month on average in rent, he said.

Keay’s apartment building in Daejeon has underground badminton courts, among other amenities.

Keay said life in South Korea, from public transportation to healthcare, is convenient and efficient. He said he could buy a one-way bus ticket in Daejeon for under $1.

“Transportation is honestly amazing,” he said.

Keay is registered in the government healthcare system, and since his pensions are his only income, he’s classified as low income. He said he pays roughly $18 a month for healthcare coverage.

Keay visits the doctor every three months for blood-pressure medication and said his appointments cost about $3, while a three-month supply of medicine costs about $15.

Keay said he enjoys the ease of traveling in the Pacific. He and Mi ok have traveled to over a dozen countries together and recently returned from Japan. He plans to visit Saipan, the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands, in October.