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Working in South Korea: the E-7 visa, the side routes, and what you pay in tax and contributions

To work in South Korea you need a visa with the right to work. For skilled workers that is usually the E-7 visa, which your employer sets in motion, with a minimum wage of 31,120,000 won a year for professionals. Teaching English on an E-2 visa is not open to Dutch nationals. As an employee you pay 6 to 45% tax, and contributions to the Korean pension that you do not get back when you leave.

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Written and checked by Auke on , against the sources at the bottom. Is something no longer right? Report it below and I'll fix it.

To work in South Korea you need a visa with the right to work. During the 90 days without a visa you may not work. For skilled workers the usual route is the E-7 visa: your employer in Korea sets the application in motion, and you earn at least the minimum wage that goes with your occupation. As an employee you pay Korean income tax, and contributions to the Korean health insurance and the Korean pension.

We convert amounts in won at the rate of 23 October 2026: 1 euro is about 1,482 won.

Which route suits your work?

Route For whom The bar
E-7 skilled worker or tradesperson with a Korean employer contract, degree or experience, minimum wage
E-2 teaching in your own native language, so Dutch bachelor's degree from the Netherlands, contract
D-8 investor in a Korean company at least 100 million won (≈ € 67,500) and 10% of the shares
D-10 looking for work in Korea 60 of the 190 points, bachelor's degree or higher
H-1 working holiday, aged 18 to 30 inclusive at most 25 hours a week
F-4 anyone who was Korean at birth almost any work, except simple manual labour
F-1-D digital nomad only for a foreign employer

Teaching English on an E-2 visa is only open to people from a country with English as the native language: the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Australia and Ireland. The Netherlands is not one of them.

How does the E-7 visa work?

Your employer first applies to the Korean immigration service for a Confirmation of Visa Issuance, an approval in advance. With its number you apply for the visa at the Korea Visa Application Center in The Hague. The employer usually has at least five Korean employees.

You have one of these three:

  • a master's degree in a field that fits the work;
  • a bachelor's degree and one year of work experience in the field;
  • five years of work experience in the field.

If you work for a Fortune 500 company, or earn at least three times Korea's national income per head, that requirement falls away. The visa is valid for at most three years at a time. The minimum wage for 2026:

Type of E-7 Minimum wage per year
E-7-1, professionals 31,120,000 won (≈ € 21,000)
E-7-2, semi-professionals 25,890,000 won (≈ € 17,500)
E-7-3, general skilled workers 25,890,000 won (≈ € 17,500)
E-7-4, skilled workers 26,000,000 won (≈ € 17,500)

You have a diploma and a Certificate of Conduct (VOG) provided with an apostille. Korea has been a party to the Apostille Convention since 2007. Korea often also asks for a translation into Korean or English.

Rather have everything for South Korea on one list?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for South Korea, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

What do you pay as an employee?

If you work in Korea, Korea may tax your wages. That is in the tax treaty between the Netherlands and Korea (article 16). Only with a short stay of at most 183 days in a calendar year, for an employer outside Korea, can that be different. If you live in Korea for at least 183 days, you are a resident there. The rates:

Taxable income per year Rate
up to 14 million won (≈ € 9,400) 6%
14 to 50 million won 15%
50 to 88 million won 24%
88 to 150 million won 35%
150 to 300 million won 38%
300 to 500 million won 40%
500 million to 1 billion won 42%
above 1 billion won (≈ € 674,600) 45%

A local income tax comes on top of that: a tenth of the rates above, so from 0.6% to 4.5% (article 92 of the Local Tax Act). A municipality may deviate from that by up to half.

If you start working in Korea on or before 31 December 2026, as a foreign employee you may instead opt for a flat rate of 19% on your whole wage, without deductions. That's possible for twenty years from your first working day (article 18-2 of the Restriction of Special Taxation Act). It doesn't apply to day labourers, nor to work for a company related to you. Ask your employer what's more favourable for you.

If you come to teach or do research at the invitation of the government, a university or a recognised school, then under the treaty (article 21) you are exempt from Korean tax on those wages for at most two years.

Besides tax you pay two contributions:

  • Health (NHIS). In 2026 7.19% of your monthly wage, half of which your employer pays. As an employee you are insured from the start. See healthcare in South Korea.
  • Pension (NPS). 9.5% of your wage, 4.75% paid by you and 4.75% by your employer. Wages count between 410,000 and 6,590,000 won a month.

A Dutch national does not get the Korean pension contribution back on leaving. You only get a Korean pension after ten years of contributions. So if you work in Korea for a shorter time, you pay contributions with nothing in return.

Is your Dutch employer posting you?

Then you can stay in the Dutch system for up to five years (article 7 of the social security agreement). Your employer applies for a certificate of coverage, and you hand it in to the NPS. That way you pay no Korean pension contribution. Apply for the certificate in good time: after six months of posting both countries must agree to it together. On the Korean side the agreement only covers the pension, so the certificate does not apply to the Korean health insurance.

Can you work remotely?

Yes, with the F-1-D nomad visa, if you have worked for a foreign company for at least a year. Working for Korean employers or clients is then not allowed. The income requirement and the other conditions are in the residence routes.

Where you then pay tax depends on how long you are in Korea and where the work is done. Have a tax adviser work that out in advance, for tax and for contributions.

In Vertrekklaar this is phase 2 of 5 of the journey, step 2.2: the same steps, but for your situation — in your order, tickable, and with the deadlines watched. See the whole journey to South Korea or go straight to step 2.2 in the open plan.

Want to know more about this?

Then we'll send you the departure checklist for South Korea, with every step in order, and five mails about the pitfalls and the real costs. You can switch it off at any time.

We use your address, and your departure date if you fill it in, only for the checklist, the guide and the mails after it. You can unsubscribe under every mail.

What this rests on

The facts in this article come from these official pages. Rules change. When in doubt, go by the source, not this article.

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