Getting Exempted from Korean Health Insurance

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Anyone who resides in South Korea for more than 6 months is automatically enrolled in Korean health insurance. It is possible to be exempted from this insurance under certain conditions.

Attention! If you do not get exempted, you will have to pay for this insurance. In 2024, the monthly cost of this insurance is around 150,000 KRW (around 100 euros). This exemption is not mandatory, you have every right to choose to keep, in addition to your private insurance (mandatory for the PVT application ), Korean health insurance. It’s up to you to choose what you prefer to do!

What are the conditions for exemption?

The conditions for benefiting from this exemption depend on your nationality.

For the French (as for the Japanese), thanks to an agreement signed between Korea and France, you benefit from the right of exemption by your nationality.

For all other nationalities (including Belgians), you can benefit from this exemption if and only if you have private insurance that has coverage equivalent to the Korean health insurance coverage. According to your feedback, the National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) requires that you have an insurance contract with coverage of at least 1 billion KRW or approximately 680,000 euros and coverage in the event of pregnancy .

If these conditions are not met, the NHIS will refuse you the exemption.

Normally, you all must have private health insurance because it is mandatory to obtain your PVT. However, be careful that the insurance you have chosen meets the NHIS exemption conditions.

For people who have taken out GlobePVT insurance, this meets the requirements for exemption.

When and how to get an exemption?

The National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) states in its guide for foreigners regarding exemption from insuranc:

“Date of Loss of Eligibility: when submitting the “Employee Health Insurance Withdrawal Application” form within 14 days of the date when acquisition of eligibility was reported, the date of acquisition of eligibility becomes the date of loss of eligibility”

It seems possible to get an exemption within 14 days of the registration date (which corresponds to your arrival date plus 6 months). Most of the time, working holidaymakers make this exemption before the 6-month date, in order to be sure not to miss the date and not to end up having to start paying the monthly payments. This is what we advise you to do too.

The NHIS sends a letter to inform you of this registration for health insurance. The letter is sent as the registration date approaches. We advise you not to wait to receive this letter to be exempted, but rather to set yourself a reminder as the 6 months of your PVT approach, so as not to forget to make the exemption. You must have obtained your resident card to do this.

For the exemption, you must go, without an appointment, to the NHIS for Foreigners Residence center of your place of residence, with only your Residence Card for French nationals and for other nationalities proof of subscription to private insurance translated into Korean in addition. A version of your insurance contract printed and translated with the Papago translation application would be sufficient, according to feedback.

Caroline, a working holiday maker in South Korea, explains to us how she obtained this exemption in Seoul:

How to get exempted when you live in Seoul?

For those who live in Seoul, the NHIS center is located at 3F, 97 Saemal-ro, Guro-dong , Seoul. You need to go to Sindorim subway station (line 2 and line 1), exit the station through exit 3, go up the stairs and go to the right. You will come to a pedestrian crossing with a shopping mall in front of you. Cross the pedestrian crossing and do not enter the mall, go to the right. Normally you will see a road with Samseong Card written above it, and further to the left, on the sidewalk, a building attached to the mall, with a small sign in front of the entrance to indicate that the National Health Insurance office is located there.

Enter the building and take the elevators to the left of the reception. You need to go up to the 3rd floor (3F). There is no point in trying to avoid the crowd by taking the stairs, the door to the 3rd floor stairs apparently only opens from the inside.

Once you get to the top, a person tells you where to go if you are a foreign resident. When you enter the room, take a ticket to get in line, the machine is on the right, you just have to click on the screen. In front of you, there is a TV screen showing the numbers of visitors.

When your number is called, you can go to the room for the exemption procedure. You are greeted at a counter where someone can speak to you in English. You must present your resident card and your insurance contract (for the nationalities concerned) and you are given the document “Application for Exclusion for Health Insurance for Overseas Korean and Foreigner” . You just have to fill it out with your full name, preferably as on your passport, your resident number which is on your resident card; you must check the box “Health coverage guaranteed by foreign law” for French people and “Health coverage guaranteed by foreign insurance” for other nationalities, put the current date, re-enter your name and sign. After that, you are made to sign another paper and that’s it, you are exempt!