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Korea's four major public insurances

What comes out of your pay, what your employer adds on top, and what you cost the company in total.

What you pay, and what your employer pays

Monthly pay

won

Use the total on your payslip, including any non-taxable allowance.

won

Meal and car allowances, as they are totalled on your payslip.

Company size
Company size

Company size changes your employer's employment insurance, nothing else.

Accident insurance
Accident insurance

Your employer pays all of it, and the rate is set by industry.

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How the two shares are worked out

Your shareContribution base×(pension 4.75% + health 3.595% + employment 0.9%)+health premium×long-term care 13.14%
InsuranceYouYour employer
National Pension4.75%4.75%
National Health Insurance3.595%3.595%
Long-term care13.14% of the health premium13.14% of the health premium
Employment insurance0.9%0.9% + 0.25% to 0.85%
Accident insuranceNothingBy industry (employer pays all)

2026 rates. Pension, health and long-term care are split down the middle, half each.

Accident insurance never comes out of your pay.

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The five insurances, and who carries each one

InsuranceYour shareYour employer's share
National Pension4.75%4.75%
National Health Insurance3.595%3.595%
Long-term care insurance13.14% of the health premium13.14% of the health premium
Employment insurance0.9%0.9% + 0.25% to 0.85%
Industrial accident insuranceNothingAll of it, at a rate set by industry

2026 rates. Four lines reach your payslip; accident cover is the fifth and never touches your pay.

Long-term care is a percentage of a percentage

  1. 1
    Start from the contribution baseMonthly gross pay − non-taxable allowance
  2. 2
    Charge the health premium on that baseContribution base × 3.595%
  3. 3
    Charge long-term care on the premiumHealth premium × 13.14%It follows your health premium, so it never touches your salary directly.
Both sides are charged this, so your employer pays the same long-term care amount you do.

Which of these actually apply to you

InsuranceWhat decides itWhat to do
National Health InsuranceNothing, once you are employed. You join on your first day, not after six months in Korea.Nothing. Your employer registers you
National PensionYour nationality. If your home country does not require Korean nationals to join its pension scheme, you may be exempt.Check your nationality with the National Pension Service
Employment insuranceYour visa. Automatic on F-2, F-5, F-6, D-7, D-8 and D-9. On E visas, H-2 and F-4 you are covered only if you apply.Ask your employer whether you were enrolled

Being in the apply-first group is not the same as being shut out. It means nobody enrols you by default.

This calculator charges all five, which is the common case. If one of them does not apply to you, both columns come down.

What company size changes, and what it does not

Company sizeEmployment insurance your employer adds
Under 150 staff0.9% + 0.25%
150 or more, priority support0.9% + 0.45%
150 to 999 staff0.9% + 0.65%
1,000 or more, or public sector0.9% + 0.85%

Only the job security and training levy moves with headcount. Every other rate is the same at any employer.

FAQ ❓

Roughly a tenth of your pay again, and often more. Your employer matches your National Pension, health insurance and long-term care exactly, pays the same unemployment share of employment insurance plus a job security levy, and then covers industrial accident insurance on its own. The accident rate is set by industry, so a construction firm pays several times what an office pays for the same salary.
National Pension, National Health Insurance, long-term care insurance and employment insurance. Those are the four lines that appear as deductions on your payslip. Korea actually runs five social insurances; the fifth, industrial accident cover, is paid entirely by your employer and never shows up on your side.
Because it is a surcharge on health insurance rather than a separate payroll tax. Your health premium is worked out first from your contribution base, and then long-term care is charged as a percentage of that premium. That is why it is a small number: it is a percentage of a percentage, not a slice of your salary.
No, not one won of it. Your employer pays the whole thing, at a rate set by the industry the workplace belongs to. It covers medical treatment and lost wages if you are injured at work, and you are covered even if your employer failed to register you.
Health insurance and accident cover, yes, from your first day of work rather than after six months in Korea. The National Pension turns on reciprocity: if your home country does not require Korean nationals to join its pension scheme, you may be exempt, so check your nationality with the National Pension Service. Employment insurance turns on your visa, and is automatic on F-2, F-5, F-6, D-7, D-8 and D-9 but application-based on E visas, H-2 and F-4.
Not your side of it. Company size only changes the job security and vocational training levy that your employer adds to employment insurance, which rises with headcount. Your own four deductions are identical at a five-person shop and a five-thousand-person group.
It is your monthly gross pay minus your non-taxable allowance, and every rate is applied to it rather than to your headline salary. The National Pension goes one step further and rounds that figure down before applying a cap and a floor, so very high and very low salaries stop moving the pension line.
No. Everything is worked out in your browser, nothing is sent anywhere, and there is no sign-up.

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