What Korea takes out of your pay — and why the pension line grows every year
Verified firsthand · Every rate read directly from the statutes on law.go.kr on 2026-08-27 — National Pension Act Art. 88 and transitional provisions, Health Insurance Enforcement Decree Art. 44, Long-term Care Act Art. 7 and Decree Art. 4, Insurance Premium Collection Act Art. 7 and 13 and Decree Art. 12.
Four insurances come out of a Korean payslip. Koreans call them 4대보험. Here are the 2026 employee rates, each with the decree it comes from.
Short answer
National pension 5.0% ← rises every year until 2029
Health insurance 3.595%
Long-term care 0.4724% ← E-9 and others can opt out
Employment insurance 0.9%
Industrial accident 0% ← employer pays all of it
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Total 9.9674%
Income tax is not in that list. More on that at the end.
Income tax and local income tax are not included: they are withheld from a simplified rate table we have not verified against the source, so the result is labelled before income tax. The February year-end settlement (연말정산) squares the difference.
The pension rate is on a schedule
This is the part most people miss.
National Pension Act, Article 88(3) (amended 2 April 2025):
Of the pension premiums of a workplace-based insured person, the contribution shall be borne by the insured person and the charge by the employer, and each amount shall be 65/1,000 of the standard monthly income.
65/1,000 is 6.5% each — 13% together. But the transitional provisions phase it in:
| Period | You | Employer | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| through 2025-12-31 | 4.5% | 4.5% | 9% |
| 2026 | 5.0% | 5.0% | 10% |
| 2027 | 5.5% | 5.5% | 11% |
| 2028 | 6.0% | 6.0% | 12% |
| 2029 onward | 6.5% | 6.5% | 13% |
If you pay on your own (지역가입자) the rate is doubled — 10% in 2026.
Your employer may not push its half onto you
Article 128(3)1:
An employer who has caused the insured person to bear all or part of the charge under Article 88(3), or who has deducted from wages an amount exceeding the contribution under Article 90(1), shall be punished by imprisonment for up to one year or a fine of up to 10 million won.
If the pension line on your payslip is more than 5% of your standard monthly income, that is worth asking about.
Health insurance and long-term care
Health Insurance Enforcement Decree, Article 44(1) (amended 23 Dec 2025): the rate is 719/10,000 — that is 7.19%. Split with the employer, so 3.595% from you.
Long-term Care Enforcement Decree, Article 4 (amended 30 Dec 2025): 9,448/1,000,000 — that is 0.9448% of standard monthly income. Also split: 0.4724%.
They are collected together but billed separately (Long-term Care Act, Art. 8(2)). That is why your payslip shows two lines.
The second line can be removed
Long-term Care Act, Article 7(4):
Notwithstanding paragraph 3, where a foreigner prescribed by Presidential Decree — including a foreign worker under the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers — files an application, the Service may exclude that person from the insured of long-term care insurance.
Who qualifies (Decree Art. 3-2, amended 12 May 2026): E-9, E-10, H-2, plus D-3 and E-8.
At 2.5 million won a month that is roughly 11,810 won monthly, about 141,700 won a year. The wording is "files an application" — nothing happens if you do not apply.
Employment insurance
Insurance Premium Collection Enforcement Decree, Article 12(1)2: the unemployment benefit rate is 18/1,000, that is 1.8%.
Collection Act, Article 13(2): the employee pays half of it — 0.9%.
The other half of employment insurance — "employment security and vocational skills development", between 0.25% and 0.85% depending on headcount — is paid by the employer alone under paragraph 4 of the same article.
Industrial accident insurance costs you nothing
Collection Act, Article 13(5):
The industrial accident insurance premiums that the employer shall bear shall be...
Nowhere in that article is there a provision for an employee share. That is why the 산재 line on your payslip is never deducted.
It also answers a common worry: "I never paid into it, so I can't claim." You can. The Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act, Article 6, applies to every business that employs workers, with no nationality condition — and under Collection Act Article 7(2) the insurance relationship arises on the day the business started, whether or not the employer filed anything.
Minimum wage 2026
The 2026 minimum is set by Ministry of Employment and Labor notice (고용노동부고시 제2025-47호, issued 5 Aug 2025, effective 1 Jan 2026) — 10,320 won per hour.
At the standard 209 monthly hours that comes to 2,156,880 won a month.
The minimum wage does not depend on nationality or status of stay. Being paid less is a violation, not "the rate for foreigners". Ministry of Employment and Labor: 1350.
About income tax
It is deliberately absent above. Income tax and local income tax are withheld from a simplified withholding table which we have not verified against the source, so we left it out and labelled the result before income tax.
The February year-end settlement (연말정산) squares the difference — if too much was withheld, it comes back.
Sources
National Pension Act (국민연금법)
Art. 88(3), 88(4), transitional provisions · Art. 128(3)1
https://www.law.go.kr/법령/국민연금법
Health Insurance Enforcement Decree (국민건강보험법 시행령) Art. 44(1) — 7.19%
Long-term Care Enforcement Decree (노인장기요양보험법 시행령) Art. 4 — 0.9448%
Long-term Care Act Art. 7(4) — exemption for foreign workers
Insurance Premium Collection Decree (보험료징수법 시행령) Art. 12(1)2 — 1.8%
Collection Act Art. 7(2), Art. 13(2), 13(4), 13(5)
Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act Art. 6
Ministry of Employment and Labor notice 2025-47 (5 Aug 2025) — 2026 minimum wage
Rates are revised at the end of each year, and the pension rate climbs on schedule until 2029. This page holds the figures in force during 2026.
