Hire and pay employees in South Korea compliantly from day one
Easily hire employees in South Korea with Deel. Deel's best-in-class Employer of Record setup allows us to handle local laws, tax and benefits, and international payroll on your behalf in 150+ countries including South Korea.
Backed by local experts and built-in compliance protection, your next hire could start in as little as 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, and licensing, can take months.
Now you can hire employees in South Korea quickly, easily and compliantly. Automate tax document collection, payroll, benefits, and more. And once your new hire is onboarded, Deel HR keeps their time off and documents in one place, so managing your team in South Korea doesn't mean a separate system.
Already have an entity in South Korea? Our PEO services can run payroll and compliance for your direct employees.
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 localised benefits for employees in South Korea within minutes. All from one manageable online dashboard in a single HR platform.
- Pension Fund
- Public Health Insurance
- Unemployment Insurance
- Employers' Liability Insurance + SSP
- Private Healthcare - Allianz (optional)
- Global Life Insurance - Allianz
Our quick-start 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 2,156,880 per month and KRW 10,320 per hour from 1 January 2026.
Please note: Fixed monetary benefits, including fixed allowances and bonuses, will be included in the calculation of the minimum wage.
Individual Income Tax
Individual income tax ranges from 6% to 45%. Income tax is calculated using progressive rates.
| Income (KRW) | Tax rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Up to 14,000,000 | 6% |
| 14,000,001 – 50,000,000 | 15% |
| 50,000,001 – 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 12% of the employee’s salary plus the Deel hiring fee.
National pension* – 4.75% (2026)
National health insurance – 3.545%
Long-term care insurance – 0.448%
Employment insurance – 1.15%-1.75%
Workers’ compensation insurance – 0.726%
Resident tax – 0.50%
Disability employment levy – KRW 64,984 (estimated)
*Calculated on the employee’s gross salary, subject to a minimum salary for contributions of KRW 400,000 and a maximum of KRW 6,370,000 per month.
Employer costs are subject to maximum salary ceilings. For salaries above the ceiling, the contribution is calculated on the maximum salary.
Employer liability cost — An administrative fee of 0.60% is applied to ensure ongoing worker compensation and liability cover
These costs are estimates and are intended solely for general information. For full details of all costs and fees associated with the terms of an employment contract in 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.
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 and complex tax systems to running your payroll in South Korea and 150+ other countries.
Management fee
Starting at
$599
/month
Estimated Employer Cost
~12%
of employee salary