South Korea leaves the higher take-home pay at all four salary levels in the table. The margin is $1,699 on a $25,000 salary and $13,739 on a $200,000 salary; at the $100,000 level South Korea keeps $72,743 against $62,973 in Japan. South Korea applies 8 bands from 6% to 45% with a tax-free allowance of ₩1,500,000 and an employment-income deduction of 20%, capped at ₩20,000,000; Japan applies 7 bands from 5% to 45% with a tax-free allowance of ¥620,000 and an employment-income deduction of 25%, capped at ¥1,950,000.
Enter a salary in KRW. The Japan side uses the same salary converted at the 28 October 2026 snapshot rate (1 KRW = 0.1191 JPY).
| South Korea breakdown | Amount |
|---|
| Japan breakdown | Amount |
|---|
Estimates for a single employee with standard allowances, calculated in your browser. Not tax advice.
| Salary level | South Korea (KRW) | Japan (JPY) | Take-home difference (in KRW) | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gross | Income tax | Social | Take-home | Effective | Gross | Income tax | Social | Take-home | Effective | ||
| US$25,000 | ₩33,170,000 | ₩2,744,940 | ₩3,222,466 | ₩27,202,595 | 18.0% | ¥3,949,000 | ¥398,037 | ¥580,700 | ¥2,970,263 | 24.8% | +₩2,253,917 in South Korea |
| US$50,000 | ₩66,340,500 | ₩7,279,114 | ₩6,444,980 | ₩52,616,407 | 20.7% | ¥7,898,000 | ¥1,214,888 | ¥1,152,434 | ¥5,530,678 | 30.0% | +₩6,161,556 in South Korea |
| US$100,000 | ₩132,680,500 | ₩25,820,493 | ₩10,343,887 | ₩96,516,121 | 27.3% | ¥15,796,500 | ¥4,257,973 | ¥1,591,196 | ¥9,947,331 | 37.0% | +₩12,963,659 in South Korea |
| US$200,000 | ₩265,361,000 | ₩79,999,898 | ₩16,931,474 | ₩168,429,628 | 36.5% | ¥31,592,500 | ¥11,980,669 | ¥1,729,749 | ¥17,882,082 | 43.4% | +₩18,229,345 in South Korea |
Each row prices the same job in both countries: the gross figures are the same US dollar salary converted into each currency at the reference rates of 28 October 2026 (1 USD = 1326.8062 KRW and 157.9628 JPY), rounded to the nearest 500. The last column converts the Japan take-home back into KRW at the same rate and subtracts the South Korea take-home, so a positive figure means more take-home pay in the country named. Income tax includes any regional tax, levies, credits and rebates in the standard model. It says nothing about what the money buys locally — see the purchasing-power points in the questions below the table where they apply.
South Korea taxes a salary through 8 bands from 6% to 45%, with the top rate applying from ₩1,000,000,000. The first ₩1,500,000 of salary is covered by the standard allowance. An employment-income deduction of 20% comes off the salary before the bands, capped at ₩20,000,000. Employee contributions are National Pension (employee share) at 4.75% on pay up to ₩79,080,000, National Health Insurance (employee share) at 3.595%, Long-term care insurance (employee share) at 0.47% and Employment insurance (employee share) at 0.9%; at the $100,000 salary level they add up to $7,796. At the $100,000 level the total deduction is $27,257: $19,461 of income tax and $7,796 of contributions, an effective rate of 27.3%. Employee social insurance 2026: National Pension 4.75% (employee half of 9.5%, raised from 9% total on 1 January 2026 under the pension reform) on a monthly standard income capped at KRW 6,590,000 for July 2026 to June 2027 (cap base KRW 79,080,000 a year; the ceiling was KRW 6,370,000 a month in the first half of 2026, and a minimum base of about KRW 400,000 a month, ignored here, also applies).
Japan taxes a salary through 7 bands from 5% to 45%, with the top rate applying from ¥40,000,000. A regional layer, Inhabitant tax (flat), sits on top of the national bands. The first ¥620,000 of salary is covered by the standard allowance. An employment-income deduction of 25% comes off the salary before the bands, capped at ¥1,950,000. Employee contributions are Employees pension insurance (employee share) at 9.15% on pay up to ¥7,800,000, Health insurance, Kyokai Kenpo Tokyo (employee share) at 4.955% on pay up to ¥16,680,000 and Employment insurance (employee share) at 0.6%; at the $100,000 salary level they add up to $10,073. At the $100,000 level the total deduction is $37,029: $26,956 of income tax and $10,073 of contributions, an effective rate of 37.0%. Per-capita inhabitant levy (about JPY 5,000) and forest environment tax (JPY 1,000) are fixed amounts and are not modelled.
Bands, contributions and worked examples for South Korea on its own page.
Open the South Korea calculator →Bands, contributions and worked examples for Japan on its own page.
Open the Japan calculator →Every head-to-head Krynto publishes, plus the homepage calculator for any other pairing.
See all comparisons →Run one salary through any of the 111 countries on the homepage calculator.
Open the comparison calculator →