韓国で働く

雇用許可制(EPS)で韓国で働くために必要なこと — ビザ、賃金、退職金、保険

Illustration of a passport, a work permit card and a calendar seen from above

韓国で働く

The E-9 Visa: What It Permits, How Long You Can Stay, and When You May Change Employer

Non-professional employment (비전문취업) E-9 is defined by exclusion — item 21 of attached Table 1-2 to the Enforcement Decree of the Immigration Act (출입국관리법 시행령 [별표 1의2]) covers anyone meeting the domestic employment requirements under the Act on the Employment of Foreign Workers (외국인근로자의 고용 등에 관한 법률), except those going into professional occupations. Employment activity runs 3 years from entry, extendable only once by less than 2 years — administered as 1 year 10 months, making 4 years 10 months — and one re-entry under the committed-worker re-entry special provision (성실근로자 재입국 취업 특례) takes the ceiling to 9 years 8 months. Changing workplace needs immigration's permission on statutory grounds, with an application required within 1 month of the contract ending and permission required within 3 months of filing. There is no dependent visa.

Illustration of an empty examination hall desk with an answer sheet

韓国で働く

EPS-TOPIK: How the Exam Works, and Why Clearing the Sector Floor Is Not Passing

EPS-TOPIK is the Korean-language proficiency test HRD Korea (한국산업인력공단) has administered since August 2005 to rank candidates for inclusion in the foreign jobseeker roster (외국인구직자 명부). It is a different exam from the TOPIK administered by the National Institute for International Education (국립국제교육원), and it awards no proficiency level, only a score. The paper is 40 questions, 100 points, 50 minutes, delivered by CBT or UBT. The sector minimums are 60 for manufacturing, 45 for the other sectors and 30 Pass/Fail for the special fisheries track (어업특례) — and clearing one does not make you a passer, because the assessment is norm-referenced and a second exam, the skills test and job-capacity assessment (기능시험 및 직무능력평가), is compulsory.

Diagram showing how 209 monthly hours are built from 40 contracted hours plus 8 paid weekly-holiday hours

韓国で働く

Korea's 2026 Minimum Wage: ₩10,320 an Hour, ₩2,156,880 a Month

The minimum wage in Korea is ₩10,320 an hour from 1 January to 31 December 2026. The government's own monthly equivalent is ₩2,156,880 — gross, before deductions, built on 209 hours. It applies to every workplace with no exemption for industry or size, and to an E-9 worker on the same terms as anyone else. Below: where 209 comes from, what legally comes off your pay, and what your payslip has to show you.

Diagram comparing departure guarantee insurance at 8.3% of the monthly ordinary wage on the Employment Permit with statutory severance of 30 days' average wage per year, and the employer's duty to pay the difference

韓国で働く

Insurance for E-9 Workers: Who Pays What, and Why Departure Guarantee Insurance Is Not Your Severance

Industrial-accident insurance is funded entirely by the employer, so a line for it in your deductions is unlawful. Employment insurance has been mandatory for E-9 workers since the phase-in completed, and still deducts nothing unless you have opted into unemployment benefit at 0.9%. The National Pension is deducted for workers from the Philippines, China, Vietnam and Indonesia among others, and not at all for workers from Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Timor-Leste — but the E-9 visa is itself a qualifying route for the lump-sum refund, so nationality decides enrolment, not the refund. And departure guarantee insurance, at 8.3% of the ordinary wage on your Employment Permit, is a floor under your severance rather than the whole of it: where the lump sum falls short, the employer owes the difference.

Diagram of the official MOEL severance formula: daily average wage x 30 days x (days employed / 365)

韓国で働く

Severance Pay in Korea (퇴직금): How Much You Get and When It Must Be Paid

Work one year or more at the same workplace in Korea, with scheduled hours averaging 15 or more a week, and you are owed statutory severance pay: at least 30 days' average wage for every year of continuous service. The worked example below puts the 2026 monthly minimum wage of ₩2,156,880 through the Ministry of Employment and Labor formula and returns a figure near ₩2.1 million for one year. Nationality is not one of the conditions. The money is due within 14 days of your retirement date, and you have three years to claim it.