Unemployment Benefit Simulator (Korea)

Enter your age as of your separation date, employment insurance enrollment period (hire and separation dates), and total wages over your last 3 months to estimate your daily and total job-seeking benefit (구직급여).

Age as of separation date

Hire date (employment insurance enrollment date)

Separation date

Total wages over the last 3 months (pre-tax, KRW)

Check if you have a registered disability

Check if you resigned voluntarily

Enter your age, hire/separation dates, and total wages over the last 3 months to estimate your unemployment benefit.

Calculation results

Employment insurance enrollment (work) period

Prescribed benefit days

Average daily wage

Base daily benefit (60% of average wage)

Daily benefit (after upper/lower limits)

Estimated total benefit

This calculator is a simplified reference simulation of South Korea's job-seeking benefit (구직급여) formula under the Employment Insurance Act: 60% of your average wage before separation, multiplied by the prescribed benefit days. The daily benefit uses the 2026 upper limit of ₩68,100 and lower limit of ₩66,048 (80% of the 2026 minimum wage of ₩10,320/hour × 8 hours/day), both of which change every year with the minimum wage. Prescribed benefit days (120–270) follow the statutory table based on age and employment insurance enrollment period at separation; here the enrollment period is approximated as the number of days between the hire and separation dates you entered, which can differ from your actual insured period (which may combine periods from previous jobs and exclude unpaid days). Job-seeking benefits are generally paid to involuntary leavers — voluntary resignation must be recognized as having a justified reason — and even with remaining benefit days, payments can only be received within 12 months of the day after separation. Check your exact eligibility and amount via the Employment Insurance site (work24.go.kr) simulator or your local employment center. This is a rough reference estimate only, not a payment guarantee, legal advice, or financial advice.

About Korea's unemployment benefits (job-seeking allowance)

Korea's Employment Insurance system pays a job-seeking allowance (구직급여) to eligible workers who lose their job involuntarily, calculated from a percentage of your prior average wage and paid for a set number of days that depends on your age and how long you were enrolled in employment insurance. This tool estimates your expected daily and total benefit amount based on your specific circumstances.

How the benefit amount is calculated

The daily benefit is 60% of your average daily wage over your last 3 months of work, clamped between a legally set daily maximum and minimum (updated periodically). This daily rate is then multiplied by your "prescribed benefit days" — a fixed number of days set by law based on a combination of your age at separation and your total insured period, ranging from 120 to 270 days — to arrive at your total expected benefit amount over the full eligibility period.

Frequently asked questions

Why do I need at least 180 days of insured employment to qualify?: Korean employment insurance law sets a minimum contribution period (180 days within the 18 months before job loss) as an eligibility threshold, similar in concept to a qualifying period required by many other countries' unemployment systems, to ensure the benefit is available to those with an established recent work history rather than very short-term employment.
Why does voluntary resignation typically disqualify me from benefits?: Korea's job-seeking allowance is specifically designed for involuntary job loss (layoffs, company closure, contract non-renewal, etc.) — voluntarily quitting generally doesn't qualify, except under specific legally recognized exceptions (such as unpaid wages, workplace harassment, or a mandatory relocation), since the program aims to support those who lost income through no fault or choice of their own.
Why do older workers and those with longer insured periods get more benefit days?: The prescribed benefit days scale up with both age and insured period based on the general policy assumption that older workers and those with longer work histories may take longer to find comparable new employment, so the law provides a longer support window for those groups compared to younger workers with shorter employment histories.