Payments to foreigners in South Korea doubled — Korea Herald
In South Korea, foreign nationals received 36.45 billion won, or about $26.2 million, in parental leave benefits in 2025. This is more than twice the 2024 figure, when the amount stood at 18.15 billion won, The Korea Herald reports, citing data from the Ministry of Employment and Labor.
The number of recipients increased
The number of foreign nationals who received such benefits rose by 50% in 2025, to 2,031 people. The increase in spending is partly attributed to the rise in the maximum monthly payment from 1.5 million to 2.5 million won.
Overall, the number of recipients of parental leave benefits in the country increased by 39.1% last year. According to the publication, this was facilitated by expanded payments and more active use of such leave by fathers. Foreigners' share among all recipients increased from 1% to 1.1% in 2025 and reached 1.2% in January-July 2026. During this period, 1,476 foreigners received benefits.
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Conditions and recipient groups
Park Soo-min, a lawmaker from the People Power Party, said these figures indicate a trend of foreign workers settling in South Korea and starting families in the country. He called on the authorities to take parental leave and family formation into account in policies concerning foreign workers.
Under the Employment Insurance Act, to receive benefits, a worker generally must have at least 180 days of insured employment before the start of leave. Foreign workers legally employed in the country generally must join the employment insurance system and pay contributions. After the relevant provisions of the system were extended to them, they have the same eligibility requirements for benefits as South Korean citizens.
The largest amount of benefits from 2024 through July 2026 was received by ethnic Koreans from China: 1,154 people were paid a total of 22.6 billion won. Recipients also included 895 Vietnamese citizens and 652 Chinese citizens, who received 12.87 billion won and 11.54 billion won, respectively. During the same period, benefits were received by 366 US citizens, 262 Japanese citizens, and 177 Canadian citizens.
