Hire and pay employees in South Korea, hassle-free
With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in South Korea. No more worrying about local laws, complex tax systems, or managing international payroll. Deel takes care of everything in 150+ countries. The average onboarding time frame in the South Korea is 2 days with Deel.
Onboard, pay and manage employees in South Korea with Deel
Usually, to hire in South Korea, your business needs an entity. That means a local office, an address registered as a subsidiary, and an account with a local bank. All of this, plus navigating regional benefits, payroll, tax, and HR laws, can take months.
Now you can hire employees in South Korea quickly, easily, and compliantly. Automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. For your existing direct employees, we can manage your entire payroll operation from end-to-end.
Currency South Korean Won (KRW)
Capital Seoul
Official language Korean
Payroll cycle Monthly
All the necessary benefits for South Korea built right in
Deel allows you to provide localized benefits for employees in South Korea within minutes. All in one manageable online dashboard in a single HR platform.
- Pension Fund
- Public Health Insurance
- Unemployment Insurance
- Workers Compensation Insurance
- Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)
- Global Life Insurance - Allianz
Our quickstart guide to hiring in South Korea
Navigate the tabs below to learn everything you need to know about hiring an employee in South Korea
Minimum Wage Requirements
The minimum wage is KRW 10,030 per hour and KRW 2,096,270 per month starting January 1, 2025.
Please note: Fixed monetary benefits, including fixed allowances and bonuses, will be included in the calculation of the minimum wage.
Individual Income Tax
The individual income tax ranges from 6% to 45%. Income tax is calculated according to progressive rates.
| Income (KRW) | Tax Rate (%) |
|---|---|
|
Less than 12,000,000 |
6% |
|
12,000,001 - 46,000,000 |
15% |
|
46,000,001 - 88,000,000 |
24% |
|
88,000,001 - 150,000,000 |
35% |
|
150,000,001 - 300,000,000 |
38% |
|
300,000,001 - 500,000,000 |
40% |
|
500,000,001 - 1,000,000,000 |
42% |
|
More than 1,000,000,000 |
45% |
Payroll Cost
The employer cost is generally estimated at 11% of the employee salary plus disable hiring fee.
- National pension* - 4.50%
- National health insurance - 3.54%
- Long-term care insurance - 0.448%
- Employment insurance - 1.15% - 1.75%
- Workers' compensation insurance - 0.726%
- Resident Tax - 0.50%
- Disable hiring fee - KRW 62,328 (estimated)
*Calculated on the employee's salary, up to a maximum monthly contribution of KRW 265,500
These costs are provided as estimates and are intended solely for general informational purposes. To fully comprehend all associated costs and fees related to the terms of any employment agreement for this country, please contact our Sales team for a quote.
Overtime Pay & Maximum Hours
Standard working hours are 8 hours per day, 40 hours per week. The standard work week is from Monday to Friday.
Overtime payment is mandatory. Hours outside of standard work hours are considered overtime. Employees can work a maximum of 12 hours per week. For additional hours, employees are paid a minimum of 150% of their average salary.
Download the complete guide to hiring in South Korea
Hiring in South Korea, hassle-free
With Deel, your business can easily hire employees in South Korea with our EOR solution. If you have an entity, our Global Payroll solution takes care of payroll and compliance for your direct employees. Our 250+ in-house experts handle everything from managing local laws, complex tax systems, or your payroll in South Korea and 150+ countries.
Management fee
Starting at
$599
/month
Estimated Employer Cost
~11% + fixed fee
of employee salary