Korea's minimum wage in 2026, and how to read your payslip
4 min read
Korea sets one minimum wage that applies to everyone — Korean or foreign, full-time or part-time, documented or not. Your nationality and your visa do not change what an hour of your work is legally worth.
The 2026 rate
10,320 won per hour, up from 10,030 won in 2025.
On the standard full-time basis Korea uses for monthly salaries — 209 hours, which includes paid weekly holiday allowance — that comes to 2,156,880 won a month.
- ₩10,320Per hour, 2026
- ₩2,156,880Per month at 209 hours
- ₩10,700Already set for 2027
The 2027 rate has already been announced at 10,700 won, a 3.7% rise, so a contract written now that will run into next year should account for it.
A few things the minimum applies to that people often assume it does not:
- Trial periods. Certain probationary arrangements historically allowed a reduced rate; do not accept a below-minimum "training wage" without checking the current rule for your exact situation.
- Part-time and hourly work. Same rate, pro-rated.
- Cash-in-hand work. Being paid informally does not lower the legal minimum. It mostly removes your evidence.
What comes out of your pay
A Korean payslip subtracts four insurances plus tax. Roughly, expect somewhere near a tenth of gross pay to disappear, though the exact figure moves with your income and enrolment status.
| Line | What it is |
|---|---|
| 국민연금 | National Pension |
| 건강보험 | National Health Insurance |
| 장기요양보험 | Long-term care, calculated on top of health insurance |
| 고용보험 | Employment (unemployment) insurance |
| 소득세 / 지방소득세 | Income tax and the 10% local surtax on it |
Employers pay their own share of the insurances on top of yours — those do not come out of your pocket, but they are the reason under-the-table arrangements are attractive to a bad employer.
Some of this is recoverable. Foreign workers leaving Korea permanently can often claim a lump-sum pension refund, depending on whether your country has a social security agreement with Korea. Ask the National Pension Service before you fly, not after.
Checking you are being paid correctly
Employers are required to give you a payslip showing hours and the breakdown of deductions. Ask for it if it does not appear.
Then check three things:
- Hours. Do the recorded hours match what you worked? Keep your own record — a note on your phone is enough.
- Rate. Gross pay divided by hours should be at or above the minimum.
- Overtime. Work beyond contracted hours generally attracts a premium. If your overtime is paid at your normal rate, ask why.
If something is wrong
Raise it with your employer first, in writing — a message rather than a conversation, so there is a record. Many problems are genuine payroll mistakes and get fixed in the next cycle.
If that goes nowhere, unpaid wages are a matter for the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which handles complaints from foreign workers and provides interpretation. You do not need a lawyer to file, and the process does not depend on your employer agreeing to it.
Practical evidence to keep from day one:
- Your contract, photographed the day you sign it
- Payslips, or bank records of what actually arrived
- Your own log of hours worked
- Messages about scheduling, which quietly prove your hours
Most people never need any of it. It costs nothing to keep, and it is impossible to reconstruct later.
Getting paid for shorter work
Not all income is a salary. Campaigns, paid events, surveys and one-off gigs are common among foreign residents, and they sit outside the payslip system — usually paid as fees with tax withheld at a different rate.
Two things still hold: the work should be within what your visa permits, and money that arrives with no record attached is money you cannot prove you earned when a landlord, a bank or immigration asks.
Checked in August 2026. Wage rules, deduction rates and probationary provisions change — confirm current figures with the Ministry of Employment and Labor before relying on them. The foreign worker support line is 1350.