Minimum wage

One statutory minimum for the whole country

Korea sets a single legal minimum wage that applies to every workplace and every sector, regardless of company size or region. There is no lower rate for small firms, no separate schedule by province, and no youth or trainee sub-minimum in the headline figure. The Minimum Wage Commission reviews it each year and the Ministry of Employment and Labour publishes it; once set, it is the floor for lawful pay across the country.

How the monthly figure is worked out

The law is written as an hourly rate: ₩10,320 an hour. For a full-time monthly salary, that hourly figure is converted on a standard basis of 209 paid hours a month — the conventional figure that includes statutory weekly paid-rest hours on top of actual worked hours — which gives a monthly minimum of about ₩2,156,880. Employers commonly quote that monthly number, but the hourly rate is the legal anchor; part-time and hourly staff are measured against it directly.

When it applies

This rate is effective from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2026. The minimum wage runs on the calendar year, so it is reset each January — unlike the National Pension income band, which runs on a July-to-June cycle. When you use the take-home calculator, remember the minimum wage is a gross figure: the four insurances and income tax still come off it, so the amount that lands in your account is lower than the headline minimum.

The figures on this page are transcribed from the Ministry of Employment and Labor notice and are the ones in force for 2026; a very recent change may not have reached this page yet, and none of them has been through this site’s own review and sign-off — for the amount that binds you, check with the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

The content of this page is still being expanded.