Garnishing Wages in Korea: Collection of Debts in Korea

I received a call from a friend asking about information concerning collecting on a personal debt. He loaned money to a “friend” and the friend never made a payment on the loan.  I advised one of the ways to encourage payment is via garnishing wages. Korea has an effective and efficient method of garnishing wages.
Garnish Wages

In Korea, after a judgment or order to pay by a court, a plaintiff can collect on an unpaid debt through garnishing wages. Garnishing of wages is normally the best way to guarantee the collection of debt when a debtor doesn’t have real or personal property.

Amount that May be Garnished in Korea

  • Less than W1.2mil (No wages can be garnished)
  • W1.2mil – W2.4mil (Monthly Wage – W1.2mil)
  • W2.4mil –W6mil (1/2 Monthly Wage)
  • Over W6mil (Half monthly Wage minus W3mil divided by two plus W3mil minus monthly wage)

Examples:
1. W2,000,000 Monthly Pay (Can garnish monthly W800,000)
2. W3,000,000 Monthly (Can garnish monthly W1,500,000)
3. W5,000,000 Monthly Pay (Can garnish W2,500,000)
4. W6,000,000 Monthly Pay(Can garnish W3,000,000)
5. W12,000,000 Monthly Pay (Can garnish W7.500,000)
6. W20,000,000 Monthly Pay (Can garnish W13,500,000)

The following post was first posed in 2008.

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