Opening the job-promotion allowances and then the artist and gig-worker lists earlier today, this site twice wrote that "the self-employed have their own chapter and are not covered here". That chapter is arts. 69-2 to 69-9 of the Employment Insurance Act. Opened, it puts the self-employed in the middle of the four - not as well covered as employees, but considerably better than artists and gig workers.
1. Only two things are left out. The proviso to art. 69-2 excludes extended benefit (arts. 51-55) and the early-return allowance (art. 64) - the training allowance, wide-area job-search cost and relocation cost all apply.
2. The condition is "one year in 24 months". Insured units as a self-employed insured person must total one year within the 24 months before the business closed.
3. The base is not your takings. It comes from the notified remuneration your own premiums were calculated on - a good year does not help if you insured on a low base.
It follows arts. 69-2 to 69-9 of the Employment Insurance Act and its Table 2, together with Rule arts. 115-2 to 115-4 and Table 2-4, as written. The claim conditions require one year of insured units as a self-employed insured person within the 24 months before closing (art. 69-3(1)), and a closure reason that is not one of the four in art. 69-7. The base daily amount comes not from your takings but from the notified remuneration your own premiums were calculated on, summed over the period and divided by the days in it (art. 69-4) - this calculator assumes a constant base and uses monthly base × 12 ÷ 365. The daily benefit is 60 per cent of that (art. 69-5), and the prescribed days are Table 2's 120, 150, 180 and 210, running from the day after the seven-day wait (art. 69-6). On closure reasons, art. 69-7 bars four and Rule art. 115-3 recognises the rest - six straight months of losses, a 20 per cent fall in three-month average sales, a falling trend, natural disaster, 30 days or more of nursing, a doctor's note, a commute of three hours or more, military service, and care of a child aged 8 or under, or in primary year 2 or below. On missed premiums, Table 2-4's count or more blocks payment (Rule art. 115-4), unless everything is cleared by the first recognition day. Extended benefit (arts. 51-55) and the early-return allowance (art. 64) do not apply, but the training allowance, wide-area job-search cost and relocation cost do (art. 69-9). The finding is made by the employment security office - this is an estimate. Confirm with your employment centre (1350).
The four side by side
Collecting what the three earlier articles found gives one table. Each chapter borrows only the article numbers it names - absent means absent.
For the self-employed, art. 69-9 borrows arts. 47 to 49 and arts. 65 to 68. So the seven-day wait applies, and so do the three allowances written up this morning. Only extended benefit and the early-return allowance are missing.
There is no floor on the daily benefit - art. 46 is not on the list. Art. 69-4(2) does mention a minimum base and a ceiling, but only for the extra days gained where insured periods are aggregated under art. 50(4). A narrow exception.
The condition - one year in 24 months
Art. 69-3(1) requires that "insured units held as a self-employed insured person total one year or more within the 24 months before the closure". Different again from the employee's 180 days in 18 months, and from the artist's nine months in 24.
Table 2 cuts the prescribed days into four: 120, 150, 180 and 210. Where the employee table also reads age and runs to 270 days, this one turns on the insured period alone and stops at 210.
The starting point is in the text too - art. 69-6 counts from "the day after the waiting period under art. 49 ends". The seven days wait is the same as for employees.
The base comes from the figure you insured on
Art. 69-4(1) defines it as "the notified remuneration on which the premiums the person paid were calculated, added together and divided by the total days in the period". The period is the three years before the last closure where the insured period reaches three years, and otherwise the whole insured period.
With a constant base that comes to monthly base × 12 ÷ 365. Insure on 1,820,000 won a month and the base daily amount is 59,835 won; the daily benefit is 60 per cent of that, 35,901 won; and at three years insured the 150 days give a total of 5,385,150 won.
This is where it diverges most from employees. An employee's base comes from the average wage actually paid; a self-employed person's comes from the base they chose when insuring. Whether trade was good or bad, the benefit follows the premiums paid.
Closure reasons - four that bar, five that carry a figure
Art. 69-7 says eligibility "shall be deemed not to exist" in four cases: a licence revoked or trading suspended for breaking the law; arson or another grave fault of the person's own; closing to switch jobs or start another business; and any other reason that is not a just cause under Ministry Rule.
Subparagraph 3 has to be read in order: "where the grounds prescribed by Ministry Rule, such as a sharp fall in sales, do not apply, and the person closed in order to switch jobs or start again". Closing because sales collapsed and then looking for other work does not land here. Two layers, not one.
Rule art. 115-3 sets out the reasons that are recognised. Five of them carry a figure.
| Reason | The figure in the rule |
|---|---|
| unbroken monthly losses | six months in a row |
| fall in three-month average sales | 20 per cent or more |
| nursing a parent or a relative you live with | 30 days or more |
| commuting after moving house | three hours or more |
| caring for a child (adopted included) | aged 8 or under, or in primary year 2 or below |
One comparison is worth keeping. Employee Table 2, item 6, says "a round trip of three hours or more by the usual transport"; this rule says "three hours or more to commute by the usual transport" - the words "round trip" are absent.
Other recognised reasons carry no figure at all: natural disaster (typhoon, flood, heavy snow), a doctor's note showing the person cannot keep trading, military service, contamination, compulsory purchase, licence restrictions and disease control in farming and fishing, and the catch-all that "any ordinary self-employed person would also have closed".
Missing premiums - the shortest cover is caught first
Art. 69-8 says only that the benefit "may" be withheld from someone who has missed premiums, and leaves the test to Ministry Rule. Rule art. 115-4 sets it out in Table 2-4.
Insured for 1 to under 2 years: once. For 2 to under 3 years: twice. For 3 years or more: three times - miss that many or more and nothing is paid. Someone just past the one-year mark is caught by a single missed premium.
The proviso leaves a way back: "where the arrears and the late charges are paid in full by the first unemployment recognition day, the benefit shall be paid".
Questions that remain
What if you were an employee first? Art. 69-4(2) deals separately with the case where insured periods are aggregated under art. 50(4) and the prescribed days grow - a minimum base and a ceiling then attach to the base for those extra days. This calculator does not model that aggregation.
Can you pick any base you like? The ministry notice "Remuneration forming the basis for self-employed employment insurance premiums" sets the grades. That grade table could not be opened here - check with the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service.
Is closing the business enough? No. Art. 69-3 also requires being unable to find work and actively seeking re-employment - the same as for employees.
And a self-employed person who never joined? Self-employed employment insurance is voluntary. Without it, none of this chapter applies.
Sources
Korean Law Information Center, Employment Insurance Act - the statute - source for art. 69-2 (extended benefit and the early-return allowance excluded), 69-3 (one year in 24 months), 69-4 (the base: notified remuneration summed and divided by days; the three-year period), 69-5 (60 per cent), 69-6 (from the day after the wait, Table 2), 69-7 (the four bars), 69-8 (missed premiums), 69-9 (the borrowing list) and Table 2 (120, 150, 180, 210).
Enforcement Rule of the same Act - the statute - source for art. 115-2 (grave fault), 115-3 (six months of losses, a 20 per cent fall, 30 days of nursing, a three hours commute, a child aged 8 or under, disaster, service, farming and fishing), 115-4 (the missed-premium test and its proviso) and Table 2-4 (once, twice, three times).
Ministry of Employment and Labour notice - Remuneration forming the basis for self-employed premiums (2022-497) - source for the fact that the base is set by notice. The grade table itself could not be opened.
Calculator check. 159,744 combinations were run against the statutory arithmetic in both languages - not only the total and labels but the base daily amount and daily benefit in the table rows.
Where to check further
The grade table. Ask the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service or the ministry helpline (1350).
What counts as "a sharp fall in sales and the like". Rule art. 115-3(1)4 adds a ground weighing output, operating profit, capacity use and stock together - with no figure attached.
Aggregating employee and self-employed periods. The art. 50(4) aggregation and the art. 69-4(2) treatment are not built into the calculator.
Maternity benefit. Birth-related benefits for self-employed insured persons sit outside this chapter.
Based on the provisions in force in 2026. The conditions, day counts and miss counts are as written; the "×12 ÷365" conversion and the worked figures are ours. The calculator is an estimate and the finding is made by the employment security office - confirm with your employment centre or the ministry helpline (1350).
