As of March 2024, the estimated population of South Korea is 51,784,059 people.
The currency in South Korea is the South Korean Won (KRW). The currency symbol is ₩.
Under South Korea's Labor Standards Act, the term of a labor contract cannot exceed 1 year, except in cases where no term is fixed, or a term is fixed as necessary for the completion of a certain project. There are no statutory requirements for a probationary period for permanent employees. However, industry standards dictate that a probation term should be between 3 to 6 months.
Under South Korea's Labor Standards Act, employers must provide all employees, regardless of whether they are full-time or part-time, and including those hired for an indefinite term, with a written statement that includes information on the following: Wages Work hours Holidays and annual paid leaves The employer must also provide a written statement to the employee if any of the above terms of the employment contract are changed. The term of a labor contract may not exceed 1 year, unless the employment is for an indefinite duration or the nature of the work requires a longer fixed term. An employer must issue a written statement to an employee specifying the components of the wage, the calculation method, and the payment modality. Any agreement that does not satisfy the standards prescribed by the Labor Standards Act and other binding laws on working conditions will be void to the extent that it fails to meet those legal requirements. The Supreme Court of South Korea maintains that non-compete and non-solicitation clauses in employment contracts are enforceable if they are reasonable. Even if a non-competition agreement exists between an employer and an employee, if such an agreement excessively restricts the employee's freedom of job choice and right to work or excessively restricts free competition, it must be considered invalid.
Employees can hire temporary employees through temporary work agencies in South Korea by concluding a written contract. Such employees can be hired for up to 1 year, plus a 1-year extension. Temporary placement is prohibited in case of construction work and harmful or hazardous jobs. South Korea's labor law states that the salaries and benefits of non-permanent workers should be equivalent to those of permanent employees with the same or similar jobs. If the employer violates these obligations in a manner that constitutes unreasonable discrimination, the affected non-permanent workers can request remedial action by filing a detailed statement with the relevant Regional Labour Relations Commission (RLRC) within 6 months of the alleged violation.
South Korea's Labor Standards Act (LSA) does not limit the length of employee probationary periods. The LSA stipulates that employers do not need to provide the traditional 30-day notice of dismissal during an employee's probationary period. Typically, probationary periods are governed by the employee's individual labor contract and last between 3-6 months.
Per the amended Labor Standards Act of South Korea, standard work hours are 40 hours per week or 8 hours per day. An employer can extend work hours in a particular week or day according to the employee's contract. However, the average work hours per week during a specific period (of not more than 2 weeks) must not exceed 40 hours, and work hours in any particular week shall not exceed 52 hours or 12 hours a day.
2026
2027
Under South Korea's labor law, full-time salaried employees are entitled to 15 days of paid annual leave after 1 year of service with an organization. During their first year of service, employees earn 1 day of leave for every fully worked month (for a total of 11 days of leave). Employees must have at least 80% attendance during any year of service to qualify for paid leave. Employees are entitled to an additional day of leave for every 2 years of consecutive service, not including their first year. However, the statutory leave days earned annually are capped at 25 days. Employee leave continues to accrue when the employee is away on childcare leave. Paid annual leave shall be forfeited if not used within 1 year. However, this shall not apply in cases where the employee has been prevented from using the employer's leave. An employer may conclude an agreement with the employee requiring the employee to take paid leave on particular days.
The labor law of South Korea does not require employers to provide leave to employees for non-work-related illnesses or injuries. Under the Labor Standards Act, employers are required to provide paid leave for work-related illnesses or injuries. An employer shall provide necessary medical treatment at their expense or bear corresponding expenses for an employee who suffers from an occupational injury or disease. An employer shall pay an employee under medical treatment for occupational injury or disease compensation for suspension of work equivalent to 60% of his or her average wages during the period of his or her medical treatment. If an employee suffers from an occupational injury or disease due to their own gross negligence and the employer obtains admission for said negligence from the Labor Relations Commission concerned, the employer shall not be required to provide compensation for suspension of work or disability. An employer shall not dismiss an employee during a period of suspension of work for medical treatment of an occupational injury or disease and within 30 days immediately thereafter.
According to South Korea's Labor Standards Act (LSA), employers must provide pregnant employees with 90 days of maternity leave for a single pregnancy and 120 days for multiple pregnancies, and 100 days for premature births only when the baby requires hospitalization in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This leave can be taken before and after childbirth, but at least 45 days (or 60 days in the case of multiple births) must be used after childbirth. Compensation is funded by the employer for 60 days (75 for multiple pregnancies), while the remaining days are paid from the Employment Insurance Fund, a state-run fund established by the Ministry of Employment and Labor under the Employment Insurance Act of 1993. The 90 days of statutory leave include holidays and Sundays. Any period over the statutorily prescribed 90 days need not be considered paid leave. Although certain limitations exist, maternity leave must be allowed for premature births, miscarriages, and stillbirths. Under the Equal Employment Opportunity and Work-Family Balance Assistance Act, up to 1 year of unpaid leave is provided to a parent with a child up to age 8. Effective February 23, 2025, employees are also entitled to leave in case of a miscarriage or a stillbirth. They must provide their employers with a medical certificate from a medical institution, which includes the reason for the leave request, the date of the miscarriage or stillbirth, and the duration of the pregnancy. The duration of leave depends on the pregnancy period, ranging from 10 days to 90 days.
In South Korea, fathers are entitled to 20 days of paid paternity leave, which must be requested within 120 days of their child's birth. Employees may split paternity leave into 3 different segments. Effective August 20, 2026, male employees can begin leave up to 50 days before the expected birth date, and the leave may now be divided into up to 3 installments instead of 2. Employees are entitled to 1 year of childcare leave to raise their biological or adopted children who are 8 years old or younger or in second grade or lower. Childcare leave may be extended 6 months if both parents have taken childcare leave for the same child for at least 3 months each, a single parent as defined under the Single-Parent Family Support Act, or a parent of a child with a disability. Effective August 20, 2026, male employees can take parental leave during their spouse's pregnancy where there is a risk of miscarriage or premature birth. Employees may also request reduced working hours for childcare to raise their children who are 12 and under or in the sixth grade and under. The period of reduced working hours can last for up to 1 year. Effective September 18, 2026, a new leave entitlement is introduced for male employees whose spouses experience a miscarriage or stillbirth. Employees may take up to 5 days of leave, with the first 3 days paid, provided the request is made within 20 days of the event.Employers are prohibited from taking any adverse action against employees on paternity leave.
According to South Korea's labor law, when an employer intends to dismiss an employee (including dismissal for business reasons unrelated to the employee's conduct), the employer must give the employee a notice of dismissal of at least 30 days. If the employer fails to give such advance notice, the employer must pay that employee their ordinary wages for no less than 30 days. The notice requirement does not apply where a natural disaster, calamity, or other unavoidable circumstance prevents the continuance of the business, where the employee has caused a considerable hindrance to the business, or where the employee has intentionally inflicted damage to the employer's property.
Per South Korea's labor law, a full-time employee is entitled to receive severance pay equal to at least 1 month's average wages for each year of continuous employment if they have worked for at least 1 year. During the qualifying year, the employee must have worked for more than 15 hours per week or more than 60 hours per month. Severance pay is to be paid within 2 weeks of termination unless otherwise agreed. Additionally, it must be paid regardless of the reason for termination. The employee's "average wages" includes all wages paid by the employer to the employee for the 3 months before the date of departure divided by the total number of days during the same period.
All employers must enroll employees (including the company's representative director) in the National Pension Scheme. Foreigners aged between 18 and 60 residing in Korea are also subject to the compulsory coverage of the National Pension Scheme. The retirement age as of 2026 is 63, gradually increasing by 1 year every 5 years since 2013. However, employees aged 60 years or older and casual or temporary employees, as defined under the relevant laws, are exempt from mandatory enrollment. Employees are eligible for a retirement pension if they have made contributions for at least 10 years. The old-age pension comprises a Basic Pension Amount (BPA) and an Additional Pension Amount (APA) or Dependent Supplement. Employees who have reached retirement age but have paid less than 10 years of contributions are eligible to receive a lump sum old-age grant of their total contributions. Employees are eligible to receive a full retirement pension if they have paid contributions for at least 20 years. The old-age pension is composed of 2 parts. One is the Basic Pension Amount (BPA), based on the current or former insured person's contributions. The other is the Additional Pension Amount (APA) or Dependent Supplement. The retirement old-age pension is based on the insured person’s average earnings, the national average earnings, and the total contribution period. In simplified terms, the pension is calculated by applying an income replacement rate of approximately 42–43% to the insured person’s average income for a full 40-year contribution period, with the pension reduced proportionally for shorter contribution periods. For employees with less than 20 years of contributions but more than 10 years of contributions, the pension is paid in proportion to the number of contributions paid. Effective January 1, 2026, the Dependent Pension Amount is KRW 306,630 (South Korean Won) per year for a spouse and KRW 204,360 per year for children or parents.
Per South Korea's labor law, the survivor pension is available to an insured's widow, a widower if the widower is aged 60 or older (or a widower of any age with a first-or second-degree disability), parents and grandparents (including the spouse's parents or grandparents) aged 60 or older (or of any age with a first-or-second-degree disability), and children and grandchildren younger than age 25 (or of any age with a first-or second-degree disability). The survivor's pension is paid upon the death of an insured person (the deceased must have paid 66.7% of scheduled contributions on time, except when the unpaid coverage period is less than six months), an old-age pensioner, or a disability pensioner with a first-or second-degree disability. If the deceased had contributed for at least 20 years, the pension is 60% of the deceased's basic monthly pension amount (BPA); if they had ten to 19 years of contributions, the pension is 50%; if they have less than 10 years of contributions, the pension is 40%. For those receiving a survivor's pension, the basic pension amount is calculated based on the standard pension amount of KRW 349,700 (South Korean wons) per month, effective January 1, 2026.
Per South Korea's labor law, a disability pension is paid (according to the degree of disability) to individuals with a disability occurring after the treatment of diseases or injuries incurred during the insured period. Annuities are paid to those with first, second, and third-degree disabilities, and lump-sum benefits are paid to those with fourth-degree disabilities. Disability pension is calculated according to the degree of disability and the insured's monthly Basic Pension Amount (BPA). For a first-degree disability, 100% of the insured's BPA is paid, whereas 80% is paid for a second-degree disability, and 60% is paid for a third-degree disability. For Level 4 disability, a one-time lump sum benefit is paid as 225% of the Annual Basic Pension. The Basic Pension Amount (BPA) is calculated by multiplying 1.290 by the combined value of 2 income averages: the national average monthly income for the 3 years immediately preceding the start of the pension (each adjusted for inflation), and the insured person’s own average standard monthly income over their entire contribution period, adjusted to present value using the annual revaluation rate set by the Minister of Health and Welfare. If the insured period exceeds 20 years, an additional 0.5 percent is added for each extra year of coverage.
The tax code of South Korea defines a resident as an individual who has stayed in the country for more than 183 days in a tax year. Residents are required to pay tax on their income from inside and outside South Korea, while non-residents are taxed on their income from sources in South Korea. The tax year runs from January 1 to December 31. South Korea imposes 2 types of income taxes: national and local. Local income tax is assessed at the rate of 10% of the national income tax rates. The national income tax rates applicable in 2023 vary from 0% to 45%. According to the recent tax revision, foreign employees may elect to have a 19% flat tax rate (20.9% including local taxes) applied for 20 consecutive tax years on income earned from January 1, 2023. South Korea uses a Simplified Tax Table that employers use to withhold income tax from monthly salary payments. Employers can find the withholding amount each month using: Monthly salary level — typically the gross monthly pay minus non-taxable allowances Number of dependents — including the employee, qualifying family members, and children under 20 Employees can choose to have tax withheld at 80%, 100%, or 120% of the standard table amount.
On January 1, 2024, the Government of South Korea introduced the (F-1-D) Workation (Digital Nomad) Pilot Program. This program will be reviewed at the end of 2024 to determine whether the Workaction visa will be offered permanently. With the Workaction Visa, foreigners and their families can work remotely in South Korea for up to 2 years if all requirements are met. Effective June 30, 2026, Korea converted the (F-1-D) Workation (Digital Nomad) visa into a permanent program. It offers a maximum stay of up to 3 years. This visa is applicable for foreign nationals over the age of 18 years who own an overseas business or who work for overseas companies, who can work remotely, and who have worked in the same industry for at least 1 year, along with their families (spouse and dependent children under 18). They must have earned at least twice the national per capita income in South Korea in the previous year. It is issued for multiple visits.
The Immigration Service of South Korea does not provide work permits per se, but work status is determined by visas. Foreign nationals must generally obtain the appropriate visa before they enter South Korea for business or work purposes. Employers may not use or employ foreigners who do not have proper work visas. There are 36 types of visas, nine of which are related to the visa-holders' employment. The visas fall into the general categories of business and employment visas. There are four types of business visas: Temporary business visas (C-3 visas) Intra-company transfer visas (D-7 visas) Corporate investments (D-8 visas) Trade management visas (D-9 visas) The D-7 visa is the most common visa for a foreign national employed by a foreign company or a foreign company's subsidiary. Employment visas are issued to foreign nationals who wish to be directly employed by a South Korean company: C-4 visas are for foreign nationals working for the South Korean employer for 90 days or less. There are 4 other employment visas issued only to foreign nationals taking high-skilled work: research (E-3), technology consulting (E-4), licensed profession (E-5), and specially designated activities (E-7).
