Korean Unemployment Benefit Calculator

Four steps, and only four

Step one is the average daily wage: total wages paid in the three months before separation, divided by the actual number of calendar days in that window, usually 89 to 92, not a flat 90. Article 45(1) of the Employment Insurance Act ties this to the average wage definition in the Labor Standards Act, and Article 45(2) substitutes the ordinary wage if it is higher.

Step two multiplies that by 60 percent, under Article 46(1)1.

Step three clips the result to a daily cap and a daily floor. This is where most claims end up, which is why the arithmetic in steps one and two often does not matter at all.

Step four multiplies the daily amount by the number of benefit days, from 120 to 270 depending on your age at separation and your insured period.

A worked example: 12,000,000 won over a 92-day window is 130,434 won a day, and 60 percent of that is 78,260 won. That exceeds the 2026 cap, so the benefit is 68,100 won a day.

The separation date governs everything

The cap that applies is the one in force on the day you left. Amendments to the Enforcement Decree carry a standard transitional clause: people who separated before the amendment took effect keep the previous figures. Separations from 1 January 2026 use 68,100 won; separations between 1 January 2019 and 31 December 2025 use 66,000 won; separations in 2018 use 60,000 won; separations between April and December 2017 use 50,000 won.

The floor works the same way. Article 45(4) defines the minimum base daily wage as your contractual daily working hours multiplied by the minimum wage in force on the date of separation. Leaving on 31 December 2025 means the 2025 minimum wage of 10,030 won an hour; leaving one day later means 10,320 won.

Age is measured at separation as well. Appendix 1 of the Act heads its column age as of the separation date, so a birthday between leaving and filing changes nothing.

The October 2019 reform keyed off the separation date too. It raised the benefit rate from 50 to 60 percent, extended duration from 90–240 days to 120–270 days, and lowered the floor multiplier from 90 to 80 percent of the minimum wage. English summaries still quoting 50 percent or 90 percent are describing pre-October-2019 separations.

2026: the floor nearly overtook the cap

The 2026 increase was not a benefit expansion. It was a repair.

Korea's 2026 minimum wage is 10,320 won an hour, set by the Ministry of Employment and Labor in August 2025. The daily floor is minimum wage times 8 hours times 80 percent, which comes to 66,048 won — 48 won above the 66,000 won cap that had been frozen for six years. A floor sitting above a cap is incoherent, so the ceiling on the base daily wage was lifted from 110,000 to 113,500 won, and 60 percent of that is 68,100 won. The Cabinet approved the amendment on 16 December 2025, effective 1 January 2026.

The consequence is that the gap between the highest and lowest daily benefit is now 2,052 won, about 3.1 percent. To clear the floor at all, your base daily wage has to exceed 66,048 divided by 0.6, or 110,080 won, roughly a monthly salary of 3.35 million won. The cap bites at 113,500 won, roughly 3.45 million a month. The entire income-sensitive band is about 100,000 won of monthly salary wide.

Someone who earned 2.5 million won a month and someone who earned 8 million collect close to the same benefit. An earnings-related insurance has converged on a flat payment.

Worked examples for a 2026 separation

All three assume a 92-day three-month window.

12,000,000 won total: 130,434 won a day, times 60 percent is 78,260 won, above the cap, so 68,100 won a day.

9,500,000 won total, about 3.17 million a month: 103,260 won, times 60 percent is 61,956 won, below the floor, so 66,048 won a day.

7,500,000 won total, 2.5 million a month: 81,521 won, times 60 percent is 48,913 won, also below the floor, so 66,048 won a day.

The last two earn very different salaries and receive an identical daily benefit. Multiply by benefit days for the total: for a 2026 separation the ceiling is 68,100 times 270 days, or 18,387,000 won, and the floor case is 66,048 times 120 days, or 7,925,760 won.

Benefit days come from insured period, not job tenure

The figure that goes into the table is your insured period under employment insurance, not years of service at your current employer. Periods with several employers can be added together, periods before a separation for which you already drew jobseeker benefit are excluded, and time when you were not enrolled does not count at all. Foreign employees on visas carrying mandatory enrolment accrue insured period the same way domestic employees do.

To reach 270 days you must be 50 or older as of the separation date and have 10 or more years of insured period. Being 50 or older with under a year of coverage still gives 120 days, the same as everyone else. A person with a disability registered under the Act on the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities is treated as 50 or older regardless of actual age.

Eligibility comes first. Article 40 requires at least 180 days of insured units within the 18 months before separation, plus an involuntary separation or an accepted reason for leaving. Appendix 2 of the Enforcement Rule lists justified reasons that do not bar a claim, including unpaid wages, a relocation that makes the commute impractical, illness, and workplace harassment.

Timing matters more than most claimants expect. The seven-day waiting period runs from the day you report unemployment at the employment center, not from the day you left (Article 49), and the benefit period is fixed at 12 months from the day after separation (Article 48). Unused entitlement days expire at that point, so a person entitled to 270 days who waits four months to file will not collect the full amount.

Where the estimate diverges from reality

The largest source of error is daily contractual hours. The floor is proportional to them, computed under Article 91-2 of the Enforcement Rule, with 8 hours as the maximum rather than a universal default. A part-time worker assessed at 4 hours a day has a 2026 floor of 10,320 times 4 times 80 percent, or 33,024 won, half the headline figure. Any calculator that hard-codes 8 hours overstates a part-timer's benefit by up to double.

Without eligibility the day table is meaningless. Enter one month of insured period anywhere and you get a confident 120-day figure, but 180 days of insured units within the 18 months before separation is a statutory precondition, and the reason for leaving is assessed separately.

Filing late shrinks the total. A projected end date is normally computed assuming you filed the day after separation. In reality the seven waiting days start from the day you report unemployment, and the 12-month benefit period is a separate hard stop.

Old separation dates follow different law: before 1 October 2019 the rate was 50 percent, the floor multiplier 90 percent, and duration 90 to 240 days. Since a separation more than 12 months old cannot be claimed at all, those rules rarely matter in practice.

Two reforms are pending rather than in force: reduced benefits for repeat claimants, and a shift of the calculation base from the three-month average wage to remuneration over the year before separation. Current law still uses the three-month average wage, so the arithmetic above is what applies today.

This is an estimate. Entitlement and the actual amount are determined by the employment center handling your claim, so confirm figures with the Ministry of Employment and Labor or the Employment Insurance service. Government information pages are sometimes slow to update after a change, so check the date on any figure you find, including official ones.

Frequently asked questions

What is the maximum unemployment benefit in Korea in 2026?

68,100 won a day, which is the 113,500 won ceiling on the base daily wage multiplied by 60 percent. The longest entitlement is 270 days, so the maximum total is 18,387,000 won. Both apply to separations on or after 1 January 2026.

What is the minimum daily amount?

For a 2026 separation it is 66,048 won, calculated as the 10,320 won minimum wage times 8 hours times 80 percent. Earlier separation years give 64,192 won for 2025, 63,104 won for 2024, and 61,568 won for 2023. The shortest entitlement is 120 days, so the minimum total for 2026 is 7,925,760 won.

I left in December 2025 but I am claiming in 2026. Which cap applies?

The 2025 one. Your cap is 66,000 won a day and your floor is 64,192 won, because both are fixed by the separation date under the transitional clause of the amended Enforcement Decree and by the wording of Article 45(4). Leaving one day later, on 1 January 2026, would have given you 68,100 and 66,048.

Can I claim if I resigned voluntarily?

Usually not, but there is a defined list of exceptions. Appendix 2 of the Enforcement Rule sets out justified reasons for leaving that do not restrict eligibility, including unpaid wages, a company relocation that makes commuting impractical, illness, and workplace harassment. Documentation is required, so ask the employment center before you resign rather than after.

How long do I have to file after leaving?

The benefit period is 12 months from the day after separation, and entitlement days left over when it ends are lost. The seven unpaid waiting days also start from the day you report unemployment, not from separation, so a late filing delays the first payment as well. File as soon as you have your separation documents.

I work part-time. Is my floor still 66,048 won?

No. The floor is proportional to your contractual daily hours, with 8 as the maximum. If your hours convert to 4 a day, the 2026 floor is 10,320 times 4 times 80 percent, or 33,024 won. Any figure calculated on an 8-hour assumption does not apply to you.