Guidebook for Living in Korea

Korea institutes a health insurance system in which people pay a specified amount of insurance premiums every month depending on an individual's income and assets. After registering for health insurance, you can use medical facilities at a low cost whenever you have an illness or go through labor, as well as simply receive regular health checkups. All citizens are mandated to subscribe to health insurance, but recipients of medical benefits are excluded.
Health insurance subscribers are classified into employment subscribers and local subscribers. Workers and employers at all workplaces, as well as civil servants and school faculty, become employment subscribers. If you are a person who is gainfully employed primarily through an employment subscriber and satisfies all of the eligibility standards (income, assets, & support as dependant) set forth in the Enforcement Rules of the National Health Insurance Act, you can qualify as a dependent as reported by an employment subscriber. Anyone excluding employment subscribers and their dependents becomes a local subscriber.
As for employment subscribers, the company pays 50% of the insurance premium as part of the compensation received from the company, and the remaining 50% is paid by the individual. If his/her separate income excluding compensation exceeds KRW 20 million per year, he/she will be responsible for paying the entire insurance premium calculated by deducting KRW 20 million from his/her total income and multiplying the amount calculated using the monthly income formula by the health insurance premium rate.
If a health insurance subscriber receives treatment at a hospital, he/she can receive a medical examination or treatment at a hospital, clinic, or oriental medicine clinic at low prices, given that the National Health Insurance Service covers a portion of the medical expenses. However, part of the cost of an examination and treatment must be borne by the individual. He/she also benefits from health checkups, which vary contingent on the given age but are usually received once every two years.

Those who have registered as resident aliens and work at workplaces covered by health insurance, and those appointed or hired as civil servants or faculty members, become employment subscribers. Foreign nationals who have registered as resident aliens and fall under Appendix 9 of the Enforcement Rules of the National Health Insurance Act, excluding employment subscribers, can become local subscribers when staying in the country for more than 6 months, or can become dependents if reported by an employment subscriber. (Immediate visa status upon entry for marriage immigration, study abroad, permanent residence, and non-professional employment)

You may register as a dependent* on the spouse’s National Health Insurance. Submit documents confirming dependency to the National Health Insurance Corporation.

For detailed information on health insurance premiums, national health insurance benefits, and qualifications visit the homepage of National Health Insurance Corporation, or call the main Tel. No. (☎1577-1000) or foreign language information service in (English, Chinese, Vietnamese, Uzbek) (☎033-811-2000).