Korean job-seeking benefit normally stops once you have used your benefit days (120–270). Articles 51–53 of the Employment Insurance Act add three extensions: training extension, individual extension and special extension. Training extension pays 100% of your daily benefit for up to 2 years; individual and special extensions pay 70% for up to 60 days (Art. 54; Decree Arts. 72–73). Enter the type, your daily benefit and the days to get the daily amount and total, with the three conditions for the individual extension.
1. Training extension: while on training the job centre ordered, 100%, up to 2 years.
2. Individual extension: 3+ job referrals, a dependant and wage/asset limits all met — 70%, up to 60 days.
3. Special extension: when the Minister runs it for a set period after a jobless surge — 70%, within 60 days.
Calculator
Updates as you type. Training extension pays 100% of your daily benefit; individual and special extensions pay 70%, but never below the minimum daily benefit (Art. 54). The default minimum, 66,048 won, is our sum for a 40-hour week in 2026 (10,320 × 8 × 80%). 2 years is taken as 730 days (our conversion). The three conditions apply to the individual extension only.
The three extensions
| Type | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Training (Art. 51) | The job centre head may order vocational training when needed for re-employment; benefit continues beyond your benefit days for days recognised as unemployed during training. Limit set by decree — Decree Art. 72: 2 years | Starts from an order, not your own course choice |
| Individual (Art. 52) | For people the decree defines as especially hard to place and struggling financially, within 60 days | Decree Art. 73(2): up to 60 days, may be shorter for repeat claimants |
| Special (Art. 53) | When a decree reason such as a jobless surge occurs, the Minister may extend within 60 days, run for a set period; people above an income threshold excluded | Four reasons in Decree Art. 74 |
| Daily amount (Art. 54(2)–(3)) | Training 100/100 of the daily benefit; individual and special 70/100; never below the minimum daily benefit | At 40 hours a week, 70% almost always rises to the minimum |
| Benefit window (Art. 54(1)) | The original window plus the extension days | The 12 months stretch too |
Three conditions for the individual extension — Decree Art. 73
| Condition | What the source says | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Referrals | From the unemployment report until benefit ends, responded to the job centre’s job referrals (incl. in-depth or group counselling) 3 or more times without getting a job | Counselling counts |
| 2. Dependant | Someone under 18 or 65+, a disabled person, a patient needing 1 month or more of care, a spouse with no income, or a student as notified | You must have such a dependant |
| 3. Wage and assets | Wage base and the combined assets of you and your spouse each at or below the Minister’s notified limits | We did not read the notified amounts |
| Deadline | Apply by the last day of your benefit days (Decree Art. 73(3)) | Too late afterwards |
Three sums — our example
| Case (our example) | Daily amount × days | Worth noting (ours) |
|---|---|---|
| Daily 68,100 won (the cap), individual, 60 days, 40-hour week | 70% is 47,670 → minimum 66,048 × 60 = 3,962,880 won | Raised to the minimum |
| Daily 68,100 won, training, 120 days | 68,100 × 120 = 8,172,000 won | 100%, nothing cut |
| Daily 50,000 won, 20-hour week (minimum 33,024), individual, 60 days | 70% is 35,000 × 60 = 2,100,000 won | 70% can stand for part-timers |
The minimum daily benefit under Article 46 is 80% of daily contractual hours × minimum wage. With the 2026 hourly minimum wage of 10,320 won we get 66,048 won for a 40-hour week (8 hours a day) and 33,024 won for 20 hours (4 a day) — our sums. So for full-timers the “70%” is in practice the minimum: even 70% of the 68,100 won cap is 47,670.
Order — Art. 55
Extensions are paid after the regular benefit ends (para. 1). While you receive training extension, individual and special extensions wait until it ends (para. 2); if you move onto training extension, individual or special stops (para. 3). Special and individual extensions also never run at the same time (para. 4).
Your daily benefit and benefit days are in the unemployment benefit calculator; allowances during training are in job-search allowances.
Checklist
- ☐ The date your regular benefit ends
- ☐ Training: a training order from the job centre
- ☐ Individual: 3 referrals, a dependant, wage and asset limits; apply by the last day
- ☐ Special: whether the Minister is running it now
- ☐ 70% below the minimum is raised to the minimum
Questions that remain
Is a special extension running now?
Article 53(2) only says the Minister runs it “for a set period”. Whether one is running needs a ministry announcement; we did not check.
What are the Decree Art. 74 reasons?
Benefit recipients over insured persons above 3% in each of 3 straight months, a claim rate above 1% for 3 straight months, or unemployment above 6% for 3 straight months (each expected to continue), or a resolution of the Employment Policy Council.
Is the individual extension always 60 days?
Decree Art. 73(2) sets 60 days as the maximum and lets the Ministry set fewer for people who have claimed repeatedly.
Sources
- Korean law database (law.go.kr) — Employment Insurance Act Arts. 51–55 — source (current text, effective 18 September 2026, Act No. 21473; checked 22 October 2026). Training extension (order, decree limit), individual (within 60 days), special (within 60 days, set period, income exclusion), 100% and 70% with the minimum daily benefit, longer window, mutual adjustment.
- Korean law database — Enforcement Decree Arts. 72–74 — source (current text, effective 18 September 2026, Presidential Decree No. 36588; checked 22 October 2026). 2-year training limit, individual extension conditions, 60 days, deadline, special-extension reasons.
- Not read. Ministry notices (wage and asset limits, students), ministry ordinance details, special-extension announcements.
- What we added. The “worth noting” column and the Korean everyday gloss.
Where to check further
- Your local job centre — training orders, the application form, notified limits.
- Ministry of Employment and Labor announcements — any special extension.
Written on 22 October 2026. The content is from the source; the glosses are ours.
