Global Payroll Services in South Korea

Already have a Korean entity, or running payroll across several countries? We place you with a vetted Korean payroll partner who keeps income tax and all four social insurance filings exactly right, while you stay the legal employer and we stay on your side.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners
  • Multi-country ready

What running payroll in South Korea involves

If you already employ people through your own Korean entity, you stay the legal employer, but you still have to run payroll correctly every month: income tax to the National Tax Service, and contributions across four separate social insurance schemes to three different agencies, not one combined filing. This is where a specialist payroll partner earns its place: you keep the employment relationship, they keep the mechanics right across all of it.

01

You stay the employer

You stay the legal employer of your Korean staff. The payroll partner runs the monthly mechanics; you keep the employment relationship.

02

Accurate every cycle

Income tax and all four social insurance contributions calculated and withheld correctly, payslips issued, and statutory filings made on schedule, every month.

03

Multi-country consolidation

Run payroll across several markets under one partner and one process, rather than a different vendor and standard in every country.

How managed Korean payroll works, step by step

From onboarding your employee data to filing and reconciliation.

01 — Scope & onboard

We map your entity, headcount, and where you employ people, place you with the right vetted Korean payroll partner, and onboard your employee data.

02 — Set up calculations

Income tax, all four social insurance schemes, and any statutory benefits configured correctly to current Korean rules, so every payslip is right from the first run.

03 — Run monthly payroll

Salaries calculated, income tax and all four social insurance contributions withheld, payslips issued, and people paid on schedule, every cycle.

04 — File & reconcile

Statutory filings to the National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service, and the National Tax Service made on time, with annual reconciliation handled for you.

What payroll in South Korea costs

Your statutory employer costs, plus a payroll partner fee. South Korea’s employer burden is predictable but split across four schemes, one of them industry-rated rather than flat; the value of the partner is accuracy and time, in a system where mistakes are visible and penalised.

Employer social insurance

Roughly 10.6% to 11.4% of gross salary across National Pension (4.75%), National Health Insurance (3.595% plus a long-term care add-on), and Employment Insurance (from 1.15%), plus Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance configured correctly for your specific industry rate every payroll run.

Minimum wage (2026)

One national rate for 2026, KRW 10,320 per hour, set by unanimous agreement for the first time in 17 years, so there is no regional band to configure differently by location.

Income tax (employee)

Withheld across eight progressive national bands, 6% up to 45%, plus the mandatory 10% local surtax, reconciled at each employee’s year-end tax settlement every February.

Payroll partner fee

A transparent per-employee or per-payslip fee. We benchmark across our vetted network, typically 15 to 25% below going direct.

Why run it through Bradford Jacobs

One partner, many countries

If you run payroll across several markets, we consolidate it through vetted partners under one point of contact, not a different vendor and a different standard in every country.

  • Independent advice
  • Vetted partners only
  • On your side at renewal

Pricing you can’t get direct

South Korea runs four separate mandatory insurance schemes, one of them priced by industry, and getting a split wrong on a payslip is an easy, visible mistake. We benchmark across our payroll network for rates typically 15 to 25% below going direct, and renegotiate for you at renewal.

  • 15-25% below direct
  • Network benchmarking
  • Renegotiated for you

Four-scheme rules that expose risk

The National Pension/National Health/Employment/Industrial Accident contribution split, the eight-band income-tax withholding, and the annual reconciliation deadline. We place you with partners who get the specifics right, and we stay on your side if anything needs escalating.

  • Direct escalation
  • No support queues
  • Named account contact

20+ years and the local detail

Two decades running compliant payroll across global markets, the deadlines, the filings, the year-end detail that exposes risk.

  • Two decades of payroll
  • Deadlines & filings
  • Year-end handled

Built to scale across markets

Run payroll in one country or twenty through one partner and one process. As you add markets, the standard does not fragment, you keep a single point of contact and consistent compliance everywhere.

  • One process everywhere
  • Single point of contact
  • Consistent compliance

The four-scheme split Hometax and 4insure never miss

These are the ones that catch foreign employers, and the reason a specialist partner pays for itself.

Tax & deduction rates

Misapplying the eight-band income-tax withholding. Getting the National Pension, National Health, Employment, and Industrial Accident splits wrong. Missing a statutory benefit or leave entitlement. Each is easy to get wrong alone and visible to the National Tax Service and the social insurance agencies when you do.

Filings, deadlines & reporting

Late remittance to any of the four social insurance agencies or the National Tax Service, where penalties and interest apply automatically. None of these are hard for a specialist; all are easy to get wrong alone. That is the whole case for getting your Korean payroll partner right.

What managed payroll covers

One transparent fee covers the full monthly payroll cycle. No hidden extras.

Tax, social insurance & four-scheme filings

Compliant Korean payroll processed monthly, with income tax and all four social insurance contributions correct every run.

Payroll & filings

Monthly payroll run, with income tax and all four social insurance contributions calculated, withheld, and filed correctly each month.

Statutory benefits

All statutory benefits administered: annual leave, sick pay, parental leave, notice and severance.

Compliance & support

Ongoing HR compliance and a single point of contact, for the life of the engagement.

Your questions answered

Straight answers on running compliant payroll in South Korea.

Do I need a Korean entity to use payroll services?

Yes. Payroll outsourcing assumes you are the legal employer, which usually means you have a Korean entity. If you have no entity and do not want one yet, you need an EOR instead, where the partner is the legal employer. We will confirm which applies to you.

Income tax calculation and remittance, employer and employee contributions across all four social insurance schemes, statutory benefits and leave, payslips, and all statutory filings to the National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, the Korea Workers’ Compensation & Welfare Service, and the National Tax Service. You keep the employment relationship; they keep it compliant and on time.

The National Pension rate stepped up from a combined 9.0% to 9.5% (4.75% employer, 4.75% employee) on 1 January 2026, the first of eight annual steps toward a combined 13.0% by 2033. National Health Insurance and its long-term care add-on also rose. A good payroll partner reconfigures every payslip calculation for the new rates automatically, one of the most common payroll mistakes when a scheduled statutory rate change lands.

Predictable across three of the four schemes, at roughly 10.6% to 11.4% of gross salary (National Pension, National Health Insurance, Employment Insurance), plus Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance on top at an industry-rated rate, employer-funded only. Add the transparent payroll partner fee and you have your all-in cost.

Yes, and it is one of the main reasons companies come to us. One point of contact and a consistent process across markets, rather than a separate provider and a different standard in every country.

Yes. When you incorporate and become the legal employer, we move your people from the EOR arrangement onto your own compliant Korean payroll, and manage the handover so nothing is missed.

Need compliant payroll in South Korea?

Tell us your entity setup and headcount and we will come back with the right partner and pricing you will not get direct, usually within a day. One process, every country you operate in.

Tax and labour data verified July 2026 (National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, National Tax Service, PwC). Figures change; we confirm the current position when we scope your payroll.