Work checklist before leaving Korea

Start a month before departure and work through it in order.

1. Wages and severance

• Check your final pay and anything outstanding. Verify the calculation against your payslip. See wage-statement-dispute.
• Check the severance pay criteria and claim it. See severance-pay.
• Check for unused annual leave allowance. See annual-leave.
• If anything is unpaid, file a complaint with 1350 before you leave. See unpaid-wages.

2. Insurance and pension

• National Pension lump-sum refund — depending on country and criteria. 1355. See pension-lump-sum-refund.
• Health insurance settlement or refund — 1577-1000. See nhis-refund-departure.
• Employment insurance matters, if applicable.
• If you are still under industrial accident treatment, consult 1588-0075 before departure.

3. Tax

• Income tax settlement — a leaving settlement may be needed. 126. See tax-refund-departure.
• Confirm the account for receiving refunds. Don't close it prematurely.

4. Documents

• Employment certificates — useful for jobs at home or on re-entry.
• Copies of payslips and your contract
• Four-insurance enrolment records
• Industrial accident documents, if applicable
• Medical records, if under treatment

5. Residence and daily life

• If you plan to return, check with 1345. See long-term-departure.
• Confirm whether to hand in your residence card. See arc-return-on-departure.
• Settle dormitory or housing deposits. See move-out-deposit.
• Cancel and settle telecom and utility bills.
• Plan your transfers — decide when to close the account. See remittance-guide.

Where to go

• 1350 Ministry of Employment and Labour (wages, severance)
• 1355 National Pension Service / 1577-1000 Health Insurance Service
• 126 National Tax Service / 1588-0075 Workers' Compensation Service
• 1345 Immigration Contact Centre (residence)
• 1577-0071 Foreign Workforce Support Centre

Questions people ask

My departure date is close. File the unpaid-wages complaint first — it takes the longest, so it is the most urgent. For the rest, check the remote procedures.

Can I still claim after leaving? Sometimes, but it is far more complicated. Always take advice before departure and fix a method.

The company says "we'll send it later". Get the promise, the amount and the date in writing (text or email). Words alone are not evidence.

Can payments go to my home-country account? It varies by agency. Check with each one in advance.

Take care

Close your bank account first and you lose the way to receive refunds. Close it only after every settlement is done. Photographing your passport, residence card and all documents into cloud storage helps enormously later.

Related

severance-departure · pension-lump-sum-refund · tax-refund-departure · unpaid-wages · long-term-departure

Source

Ministry of Employment and Labour www.moel.go.kr / As of 2026-08