Opening your first payslip in Korea and finding the deposit smaller than your stated monthly salary is a common surprise. After income tax, the next biggest chunk withheld from a Korean paycheck is the four major social insurances. If you're searching for a "salary four major insurance calculator," you're probably trying to figure out exactly how much of each item gets deducted.
This guide breaks down national pension, health insurance, long-term care insurance, and employment insurance — the exact 2026 rates, a month-by-month example table, and how the rules differ for daily workers and part-timers, plus the upper and lower limits that cap national pension contributions.
1. How Much of Your Salary Actually Goes to the Four Major Insurances
"Four major insurances" refers to national pension, health insurance (which includes long-term care insurance), employment insurance, and industrial accident insurance. Industrial accident insurance is fully paid by the employer, so it never shows up on an employee's payslip. That leaves national pension, health insurance, long-term care insurance, and employment insurance as the four items actually withheld from your salary.
Each month, your employer withholds these amounts before payday and remits them to the National Pension Service, the National Health Insurance Service, and the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service on your behalf. Unlike income tax, which depends on your number of dependents, the four major insurances are calculated purely from your salary base (technically your "standard monthly income" for pension, or "monthly remuneration" for health insurance) — so two employees earning the same salary pay the exact same insurance premiums regardless of marital status or dependents.
It's also worth knowing that your employer pays a nearly identical amount on your behalf, separately. The figure on your payslip is only about half of the total premium actually paid into each fund.
2. National Pension, Health Insurance, Long-Term Care, and Employment Insurance Rates (2026)
Here are the confirmed 2026 rates for each of the four major insurances and the employee's share of each.
National Pension — 9.5% combined, 4.75% employee share
The national pension contribution rate, which had stayed at 9% through 2025, rose to 9.5% starting in 2026 as part of Korea's pension reform. It will keep climbing by 0.5 percentage points each year through 2033, eventually reaching 13%. Since employer and employee split the rate evenly, employees pay 4.75% in 2026. National pension isn't calculated directly on your raw salary — it's calculated on a capped figure called "standard monthly income," explained below.
Health Insurance — 7.19% combined, 3.595% employee share
The health insurance rate rose from 7.09% in 2025 to 7.19% in 2026. Since this is split evenly between employer and employee, the employee's actual rate is 3.595%, applied to your "monthly remuneration" (your gross salary minus tax-exempt allowances).
Long-Term Care Insurance — 13.14% of your health insurance premium
Long-term care insurance isn't calculated directly from your salary. Instead, it's calculated as a percentage of your health insurance premium. For 2026, that rate was confirmed at 13.14% — meaning your health insurance premium is calculated first, and then an additional 13.14% of that amount is added as the long-term care premium. This, too, is split evenly between employer and employee.
Employment Insurance — 0.9% employee share (unemployment benefit portion)
The portion of employment insurance shown on your payslip funds unemployment (jobseeker) benefits. The combined 2026 rate is 1.8%, with employer and employee each paying 0.9%. Employers additionally fund job-stability and vocational-training programs on top of this, but that portion is paid entirely by the employer and never appears on your payslip.
National Pension's Standard Monthly Income Cap and Floor
National pension contributions are calculated within a fixed income range, regardless of how high or low your actual salary is. For the period from July 2026 through June 2027, the standard monthly income floor is 410,000 won and the cap is 6,590,000 won. If your salary is below 410,000 won, pension is calculated as if you earned 410,000 won; if it's above 6,590,000 won, pension is capped at that ceiling. This floor and cap are revised every July, based on the average income growth of all pension subscribers.
Insurance rates and the pension income cap/floor are revised annually (national pension in July; health and employment insurance typically at the start of the year), so always verify the current figures on the official sites of the National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, or Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service before relying on them.
3. Sample Calculation: Four Major Insurance Deductions by Salary Level
The rates above are easier to understand with real numbers. The table below shows estimated monthly deductions across several salary levels, assuming no tax-exempt allowances.
| Monthly Salary (pre-tax) | National Pension (4.75%) | Health Insurance (3.595%) | Long-Term Care (13.14% of health premium) | Employment Insurance (0.9%) | Total Deducted |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2,500,000 won | ≈ 119,000 won | ≈ 89,900 won | ≈ 11,800 won | ≈ 22,500 won | ≈ 243,000 won |
| 3,000,000 won | ≈ 142,500 won | ≈ 107,900 won | ≈ 14,200 won | ≈ 27,000 won | ≈ 291,600 won |
| 4,000,000 won | ≈ 190,000 won | ≈ 143,800 won | ≈ 18,900 won | ≈ 36,000 won | ≈ 388,700 won |
| 5,000,000 won | ≈ 237,500 won | ≈ 179,800 won | ≈ 23,600 won | ≈ 45,000 won | ≈ 485,900 won |
| 7,000,000 won | ≈ 313,000 won (capped) | ≈ 251,700 won | ≈ 33,100 won | ≈ 63,000 won | ≈ 660,800 won |
Notice that national pension contributions stop increasing once monthly salary crosses roughly 7,000,000 won — that's because income above the 6,590,000 won standard monthly income cap simply isn't subject to the pension rate. Health insurance, long-term care, and employment insurance, by contrast, have caps set extremely high (or none at all), so they keep scaling with salary well into high-income brackets.
This table assumes no tax-exempt allowances. In practice, tax-free items like meal allowances or a car allowance reduce the base salary used for these calculations, which slightly lowers your total insurance deduction. For your exact figures, the calculator in the last section is the most reliable way to check.
4. Daily Workers and Part-Timers Follow Different Enrollment Rules
Unlike regular full-time employees, daily workers and part-timers need to first check whether they're even required to enroll in the four major insurances.
Ultra-short-time workers (under 15 hours a week)
Employees whose contracted working hours fall below 15 hours a week are, in principle, excluded from national pension and health insurance enrollment. There are exceptions, though:
- National pension: Even under 60 contracted hours a month, continuous employment of 3 months or more, or monthly income above a government-notified threshold, can trigger mandatory enrollment.
- Health insurance: Under 60 monthly hours is generally excluded, but continuous employment past certain thresholds (such as 3 months or more) can bring the worker into coverage.
- Employment insurance: Even under 15 weekly hours, continuous employment of 3 months or more generally creates a mandatory enrollment obligation.
- Industrial accident insurance: This applies to every worker regardless of hours or contract length — even a single hour of work — and is paid entirely by the employer.
Daily workers (e.g., construction day laborers)
Daily workers become subject to mandatory national pension and health insurance enrollment if they work 8 or more days within a one-month period, or 60 or more hours in that period, or earn above a government-notified monthly income threshold. This "8 or more days" standard has applied since January 2020, and any day with even partial hours counts as one full working day toward that count. Employment insurance generally applies to daily workers regardless of this day-count threshold.
Because working hours, days worked, and income thresholds all interact, enrollment status for daily workers and part-timers can vary case by case. For a definitive answer, it's best to confirm directly with the National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, or the Four Major Social Insurance Information Connection Center.
5. Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. How is the cost split between employee and employer?
National pension and health insurance (including long-term care) are split exactly 50/50 between employee and employer. The unemployment-benefit portion of employment insurance is also split evenly at 0.9% each, but the job-stability and training-program portion is paid entirely by the employer. Industrial accident insurance is fully employer-paid and never appears on an employee's payslip.
Q2. Does the deduction keep growing at the same rate as my salary rises?
Health insurance, long-term care insurance, and employment insurance scale almost linearly with salary. National pension is different — once your salary exceeds the standard monthly income cap (6,590,000 won as of July 2026), no additional pension contribution is charged on the excess, so pension deductions plateau at high income levels.
Q3. Do tax-exempt allowances lower my four major insurance premiums?
Yes. Tax-exempt items recognized under national pension, health insurance, and employment insurance rules — such as a meal allowance (up to 200,000 won a month) or a car allowance — are excluded from the base salary used to calculate premiums. With the same gross salary, more tax-exempt allowances mean a slightly lower total insurance deduction.
Q4. If I work only 10 hours a week part-time, am I enrolled in the four major insurances?
In principle, workers under 15 contracted hours a week are excluded from national pension and health insurance. However, continuous employment of 3 months or more, or income above a certain threshold, can still trigger enrollment, and employment insurance and industrial accident insurance often apply even at very short hours. Because the exact answer depends on your specific work pattern, the Four Major Social Insurance Information Connection Center is the most reliable place to confirm.
6. Check Your Exact Deduction With the Salary Four Major Insurance Calculator
The table above assumes a simple scenario with no tax-exempt allowances — your actual deduction depends on your exact salary and any tax-free items your employer pays. Rather than multiplying rates by hand, entering your numbers into a calculator is the fastest and most accurate way to check.
The four major insurance calculator lets you enter your monthly salary and instantly see the deduction for national pension, health insurance, long-term care insurance, and employment insurance, along with an estimated take-home pay that also factors in income tax. If you'd rather start from your annual salary, the salary calculator is useful too.
For a full walkthrough of take-home pay on a 50 million won annual salary — including both the four major insurances and income tax — see our guide on annual salary of 50 million won take-home pay.
Note: The rates used in this article — national pension 9.5% (4.75% employee share), health insurance 7.19% (3.595% employee share), long-term care insurance 13.14% of the health premium, and employment insurance's 1.8% unemployment-benefit portion (0.9% employee share) — along with the national pension income floor and cap (410,000–6,590,000 won), reflect confirmed 2026 figures. These rates and limits change annually, so always verify current numbers against official National Pension Service, National Health Insurance Service, or Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service data, or your own payslip.
