Legal information

If a work injury or illness leaves you with a lasting loss of physical or mental function after treatment ends, you can claim a disability benefit (장해급여). It is decided and paid by Comwel (근로복지공단), the state insurer for industrial accidents. It is paid according to a disability grade (장해등급), either as a pension (장해보상연금) or as a lump sum (장해보상일시금). For most grades you choose. For a foreign worker who is already living abroad when the claim arises, the law pays a lump sum only, and a pension stops if you later leave Korea to live abroad. That makes the timing of your claim and your departure the main decision.

When does this benefit start?

Not while you are still being treated. The benefit begins after you are considered "cured" (치유). In this law that word has a specific meaning: either the injury has healed, or treatment can no longer be expected to improve it and your condition has become fixed. At that point the medical and wage replacement benefits end, and the question becomes what permanent loss remains.

Your treating doctor writes an opinion on your remaining condition. Comwel then assigns a grade.

How is the grade decided?

The grade is set by rules in the Presidential Decree, based on which function you lost and how severely. Comwel makes that decision, not the hospital and not your employer. In practice the grades run from the most severe at the top to the mildest at the bottom. Each grade carries its own amount in a schedule annexed to the Act; we leave those figures out here, since they depend on your average wage (평균임금) and the notice in force.

What you can do before the decision:

• Make sure the doctor's final opinion describes every limitation, not only the main injury. A second, less obvious problem (a stiff joint, hearing loss, scarring) can change the grade.
• Keep your own record of what you can no longer do at work and in daily life.
• If the grade seems wrong, a review (심사 청구) can be filed against it.

Comwel can also re-examine a pension recipient once, on request or on its own, if the condition clearly improves or worsens, and then adjusts the grade.

Pension or lump sum: who chooses?

The pension is an annual amount set by your grade and average wage, and it continues for as long as you remain entitled. The lump sum is paid once; its size is a fixed number of days' wages for your grade.

If you choose the pension, you can ask for part of it in advance: half of the first one or two years of pension. For the workers in the "pension only" rows, the advance can cover the first one to four years. Interest of up to 5 percent may be deducted from the advanced amount.

What happens to the pension if I go home?

This is the part most foreign workers are not told. A pension recipient who is not a Korean national and leaves Korea to live abroad loses the right to the pension from that point. The same applies to a Korean who gives up citizenship and lives abroad.

You are not left with nothing. The law compares what you already received with the lump sum for your grade. If the days' wages you have already received come to fewer than the lump-sum days for your grade, Comwel pays out the difference in one payment. If you already received more than that, nothing further is paid.

So, in plain terms:

• If you plan to leave Korea soon after treatment ends, the lump sum is usually the simpler route, and if you claim after you have already left it is the only route.
• If you plan to stay in Korea for years with a valid visa, the pension may pay more over time, but it is tied to living in Korea.
• Do not let the employer or an agent choose for you. The choice is yours, and Comwel records it on your claim.

Can I claim after I have already left Korea?

Yes. The right to the disability benefit lasts five years from the day it arises, longer than the three years for medical and wage replacement benefits. Once outside Korea, you act through a person you have authorized in writing (위임장), and what you receive is a lump sum. A Korean bank account that is still open makes this simpler; if you will close it, ask Comwel before departure how money can reach an account in your country.

If you have further treatment later (재요양) and your condition changes, the grade can be adjusted when that treatment ends, and a pension is not stopped during the re-treatment.

Next step

Before you accept any grade or sign a choice between pension and lump sum, compare both figures against your travel plans and visa. If Comwel used a wrong average wage or the grade does not match your doctor's findings, a lawyer can prepare the review within the deadline. Our consultations are paid; contact us and a staff member will call to explain the fee.

법무법인 대한중앙
1533-7377

Rules applied

Industrial Accident Compensation Insurance Act (산업재해보상보험법) Article 5 (definitions of "cured" and "disability"), Article 57 (disability benefit; pension or lump sum per the attached table; recipient's choice except for complete-loss grades and non-Korean workers living abroad, who receive a lump sum; advance of pension with interest up to 5 percent; difference paid when the pension right ends), Article 58 (pension right ends on death or when a non-Korean recipient leaves Korea to live abroad), Article 59 (one re-examination of the grade), Article 60 (re-treatment and grade adjustment), Article 103 (request for review), Article 112 (5-year limitation for disability benefit).

This is general information, not legal advice. Every case is different.