South Korea National Basic Livelihood Security System (국민기초생활보장제도)

South Korea’s National Basic Livelihood Security System: 2026 application guide

South Korea’s National Basic Livelihood Security System (국민기초생활보장제도) is a public assistance program for people and households whose resources are not enough to meet basic living needs. The Ministry of Health and Welfare (보건복지부) administers the national rules, while local governments receive applications, investigate household circumstances, decide eligibility, and arrange payment or service delivery. The system is not a one-time competition or a grant round. It is an ongoing benefits program, so an eligible household can apply when it needs support rather than waiting for an annual call.

The most important practical point is that the system is divided into four main benefits. A household does not have to qualify for all four at once. Livelihood benefit helps with ordinary living costs. Medical benefit helps cover covered medical care subject to the applicable recipient category and co-payments. Housing benefit supports rent or housing maintenance. Education benefit helps eligible school students with education-related costs. Each benefit has its own income threshold, and the official 2026 criteria page should be checked before an application because household size, assets, deductions, housing type, and family circumstances affect the decision.

The current official reference is the Ministry’s 2026 recipient-selection criteria page. The Bokjiro welfare portal provides service listings, simulations, online application routes for eligible services, and links to forms. Applicants can also contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare counseling center at 129.

Opportunity snapshot

The word “maximum” matters for livelihood benefit. The actual monthly payment is the household-size-specific livelihood standard minus the household’s recognized income. It is not a flat payment for every approved household. Medical, housing, and education support are also determined by the relevant rules and the household’s circumstances, so the headline amount should not be treated as a guaranteed package.

2026 income thresholds

The Ministry’s 2026 table uses the national median income as its reference and sets the four main benefit thresholds at 32%, 40%, 48%, and 50%. The following amounts are monthly recognized-income ceilings for households of one through six people:

These are screening standards, not a promise that a household below a number will automatically receive every benefit. The local authority applies the benefit-specific rules, checks the household’s data, and considers circumstances such as assets, debt, household composition, disability, age, housing, and whether an obligated supporter rule applies. A household above the livelihood threshold may still qualify for housing or education support because those benefits use higher thresholds.

How recognized income is calculated

The Ministry defines recognized income (소득인정액) as the sum of assessed income and income converted from assets. In practical terms, the calculation starts with actual income, subtracts permitted household-specific expenses and earned-income deductions, and then adds the income value assigned to countable assets after the basic asset deduction and debt treatment. The result is not necessarily the same as wages or money currently available in a bank account.

Income can include employment, business, property, and transfer income. The assessment can also consider financial assets, real property, vehicles, and other resources. The official formula is important because a household with modest wages may still have recognized income from assets, while a working household may receive deductions that reduce the amount counted. Applicants should therefore avoid deciding that they are ineligible based only on take-home pay or a simple gross-income comparison.

The 2026 rules also contain changes that can affect working households. The earned-income deduction for young people applies through age 34 rather than ending at the earlier age used in the prior rule, and the additional deduction is KRW 600,000 plus the general 30% deduction. The Ministry gives an example of a one-person household earning KRW 1,000,000 in work income: after the 2026 youth deduction treatment, recognized income is about KRW 280,000, which can leave room for a livelihood benefit of about KRW 540,000 if the other conditions are met. That example is illustrative; the applicant’s own household assessment controls.

Vehicle treatment was also eased in 2026. The general asset conversion rate of 4.17% can apply under revised conditions to certain small vans and cargo vehicles, including vehicles under the applicable size and value rules. The multi-child vehicle rule now covers households with at least two children under the specified conditions. A vehicle is not automatically ignored, however. The local investigation applies the exact vehicle category, age, value, and household rules to the records supplied.

What each benefit provides

Livelihood benefit

Livelihood benefit (생계급여) is the part most closely associated with a monthly cash floor. In 2026, the one-person standard is KRW 820,556 per month and the four-person standard is KRW 2,078,316 per month. The payment is calculated by subtracting recognized income from the applicable household standard. A household with recognized income of KRW 300,000 and a one-person standard of KRW 820,556 would therefore have a starting calculation of KRW 520,556 before any case-specific adjustments.

The livelihood benefit can carry conditions for people who are considered able to work. The Ministry describes management of conditional recipients’ compliance with self-sufficiency work and related requirements. Applicants should ask the local welfare center whether a self-sufficiency plan, work activity, training, exemption, or other condition applies to their household rather than assuming every recipient follows the same path.

Medical benefit

Medical benefit (의료급여) covers eligible medical costs after the recipient’s applicable co-payment. The 2026 official material retains the statutory co-payment structure: for a type 1 recipient, outpatient co-payments are KRW 1,000 at a primary clinic, KRW 1,500 at a hospital or general hospital, KRW 2,000 at a tertiary general hospital, and KRW 500 at a pharmacy. Type 2 recipients have the listed inpatient and outpatient percentage co-payments. The exact recipient type and covered service matter, so applicants should confirm details with the medical-benefit office or the 129 counseling center.

The 2026 policy also applies a 30% co-payment to outpatient treatment beyond 365 visits in a year, with stated exceptions for vulnerable groups and medically necessary cases. It also lowers the co-payment for long-acting antipsychotic injections from 5% to 2%. These are current policy details, not reasons to skip treatment or delay an application.

Medical benefit has a different obligated-supporter structure from housing and education. The Ministry’s selection page says the medical criterion is relevant where a supporter exists, unless the supporter lacks the ability to provide support or the applicant cannot actually receive support. The same page describes exceptions for circumstances such as a missing, unreachable, detained, overseas, or estranged supporter. The assessment is fact-specific.

Housing benefit

Housing benefit (주거급여) supports a renter through a standard-rent ceiling or supports an owner-occupier through housing maintenance rules. The 2026 income threshold is 48% of median income. The standard-rent ceiling depends on region and household size. For one person, the 2026 ceilings are KRW 369,000 in Seoul, KRW 300,000 in Gyeonggi and Incheon, KRW 247,000 in the third region category, and KRW 212,000 in other areas. For four people, the corresponding ceilings are KRW 571,000, KRW 463,000, KRW 381,000, and KRW 329,000 per month.

These figures are ceilings, not an automatic payment. Rent, the household’s assessed income, the household size, and the relevant regional and housing rules determine the actual support. Homeowners should ask how the repair and maintenance schedule applies to their property. Housing benefit has no obligated-supporter criterion under the Ministry’s current selection page.

Education benefit

Education benefit (교육급여) supports eligible elementary, middle, and high-school students in households at or below 50% of median income. In 2026, the annual education-activity support amounts are KRW 502,000 for elementary students, KRW 699,000 for middle-school students, and KRW 860,000 for high-school students. For high-school students at schools not covered by free education, the program also pays actual eligible entrance fees, tuition, and textbook costs under the official rules.

Education benefit does not apply an obligated-supporter criterion. Bokjiro lists application through an administrative welfare center or online through Bokjiro and the education-cost application system. A student already receiving another education-related support should ask whether the benefits can be combined; the local education authority or Bokjiro service page can explain the applicable coordination rules.

Eligibility and family rules

The primary test is the applicant household’s recognized income against the threshold for the requested benefit. Korean citizens are the ordinary target group. The Ministry also lists narrow foreign-resident exceptions, including certain registered foreigners married to Korean nationals, people raising a Korean-national minor child, people living with a Korean-national spouse’s direct ascendant, certain people who are divorced from or widowed by a Korean national while raising a Korean-national minor child, and people recognized as refugees. A visa or residence document by itself does not establish eligibility.

The obligated-supporter criterion should be checked benefit by benefit. Education and housing have no such criterion. For livelihood benefit, the Ministry’s current page says coverage can be excluded when a first-degree relative living separately from the applicant’s livelihood and residence, or that relative’s spouse, has annual income above KRW 130,000,000 or assets above KRW 1,200,000,000. Medical benefit still has a supporter assessment, but the rules include inability to support and inability to receive support exceptions. Because the result depends on evidence and family circumstances, applicants should disclose estrangement, abuse, disappearance, disability, detention, overseas residence, or other facts that affect whether support is actually available.

Application steps

1. Choose the benefit to investigate. Start with the 2026 thresholds above, but treat them as a first screen. A household can request more than one benefit, and failing the livelihood threshold does not automatically rule out housing or education support.

2. Prepare identity and household information. Bring identification and the household information needed by the administrative welfare center. The application package uses the social-security benefit application or change form and a consent form for providing financial information. The center may request family-relation, residence, school, disability, or immigration documents when those facts affect the case.

3. Collect financial and housing evidence. Have available current information about wages, business income, benefits, bank or financial assets, real property, vehicles, debt, rent, lease deposits, and housing condition. The government can verify many items through linked public records, but clear supporting documents help explain information that a database does not show well.

4. Submit through an official channel. Visit the administrative welfare center for the eup, myeon, or dong connected to the household’s residence and ask for an initial consultation. For services that support online filing, use Bokjiro, sign in, open Service application, choose Welfare service application, then select the relevant benefit under the low-income or education category. If the portal does not allow the household’s situation to be filed online, the center is the safer route.

5. Cooperate with the investigation. The eup, myeon, or dong office receives the application, and the city or county conducts the integrated income and asset investigation. Respond promptly to requests for clarification or additional evidence. Explain any mismatch between official records and the household’s actual situation, especially for rent deposits, debt, vehicles, separated relatives, or irregular work.

6. Receive the decision and appeal if needed. The local authority decides whether the household qualifies and which benefit is available. If the decision is wrong or the household’s circumstances were misunderstood, ask the office about the objection or appeal process and the evidence needed for reconsideration. The 129 counseling center can help identify the correct office.

There is no annual closing date to wait for. Because this is an ongoing public-assistance system, an application can be made when the household’s circumstances require it. The 2026 standards, however, are not permanent: the Ministry publishes updated criteria for later years, so a future application should be checked against the then-current official table rather than copied from an older page.

Practical cautions

The figures above are useful for triage, not an eligibility decision. Do not multiply the one-person amount by the number of household members, assume that all four benefits are paid together, or treat a rent ceiling as a guaranteed cash payment. Do not omit a vehicle, bank account, lease deposit, debt, or family relationship because it seems small; incomplete information can delay or distort the investigation.

A household that is close to a threshold should still apply or request a consultation. Deductions, disability-related expenses, earned-income rules, household exceptions, vehicle treatment, and the separate benefit thresholds can change the result. Conversely, a low wage does not guarantee approval if assets or supporter rules raise recognized income or block a particular benefit.

This page is a guide to the current 2026 framework, not a substitute for a local determination. Use the Ministry’s selection criteria page, the Bokjiro portal, the local administrative welfare center, or the 129 counseling center before relying on a payment estimate or medical, housing, or education entitlement.