How Much to Pay a Japanese Chef in Seoul, and Where to Find One

In Seoul, budget from the Korea Employment Information Service survey of Japanese cuisine cooks: ₩35.75 million a year at the 25th percentile, ₩39.5 million median and ₩48 million at the 75th (2023 survey). Add about 10% for employer social insurance and a twelfth for severance. Look first at Japanese cooks already in Seoul with an open residence status; working holiday makers are capped at 25 hours a week and are not meant to fill cook roles.

1. Seoul in numbers

• 14,496 Japanese nationals lived in Seoul on 1 October 2025, up 5.0% in a year, about a third of the 44,471 in South Korea (MOFA). Nationally, 17,229 are permanent residents.
• MAFF counted 19,800 Japanese restaurants in South Korea in 2025, up 1,590 on 2023, the third highest of any country. MAFF does not publish a Seoul figure.

We could not find an official count of Japanese restaurants by Seoul district, or of omakase counters. What the numbers do show is a restaurant count growing faster than the Japanese population, so the experienced Japanese cooks already in the city are contested. Expect candidates to compare offers from several restaurants, and state pay in the ad.

2. What to pay a Japanese chef in Seoul

No official source splits Japanese cook pay by rank or by city, so use the national bands as a ladder and place each role on it:

Three adjustments on top. The survey is from 2023, and the minimum wage has risen every year since, so treat the bands as a floor for 2026 and 2027 offers. Seoul prices housing with large deposits, so a chef arriving from Japan will ask whether you advance the deposit or provide a flat. And a chef who must resign a job in Japan to join you is giving up a known position; the move itself is worth something. Our guide to relocation packages lists what to offer.

3. Total first year cost of one hire

Worked on the median salary. Employer rates for 2026: national pension 4.75%, health insurance 3.595% (half of 7.19%), long term care 0.4724% (half of 0.9448%), employment insurance 0.9% plus 0.25% for employers with fewer than 150 staff. Severance of one month's pay per year of service is owed after a year. For 2027, the Employment Insurance Committee decided on 1 September 2026 to raise the unemployment premium to 1.0% each for employer and employee, as reported in the Korean press; recheck in January.

A chef hired locally by your Korean company normally joins the Korean schemes. If a Japanese parent company seconds the chef instead, ask your adviser about the Japan and Korea social security agreement; see our guide to social security agreements.

4. Who is already in Seoul

The fastest hire is someone whose residence status already lets them work for you:

• Permanent residents (F-5) and marriage migrants (F-6). They can generally take any job, and they also count as Korean staff for the E-7 tests once on your employment insurance register for three months.
• Chefs on an E-7 with another restaurant. Moving needs prior permission from immigration and usually the current employer's consent. The conditions are on our Korea guide.
• Spouses of people posted to Seoul by Japanese companies. Their status may not permit work at all; check each case.

For every candidate, see the residence card and ask immigration what it allows. Advertise in Japanese as well as Korean: many experienced cooks with limited Korean only read Japanese ads. Our guide to where Japanese chefs look for jobs abroad lists the channels.

5. Working holiday makers: what they may do

Earlier versions of this page left the Korean conditions unchecked. The Ministry of Justice visa manual (1 September 2026) sets them out:

• Japanese nationals get a single entry H-1 visa, valid one year, for a stay of one year. The Japanese quota is 10,000.
• Age at application 18 to 30.
• Work is capped at 25 hours a week, and 1,300 hours over the stay. Any contract form is allowed.
• Jobs that correspond to E-7 occupations are among the restricted work. Chefs and cooks are an E-7 occupation.

Read literally, a working holiday maker should not be rostered as a cook. We could not find guidance on where kitchen assistance ends and cooking begins, so ask immigration before you put one on a station. Hall service, dishwashing and prep assistance are the safer uses, within 25 hours.

MOFA says Japanese nationals may take part in the Korean programme twice since 1 October 2025. The Korean manual still carries a 2018 note that Japanese applicants must not have taken part before. If you plan around a returning participant, check with the Korean embassy in Tokyo.

6. A job ad in Japanese you can copy

State the pay, the hours and the visa position. Candidates skip ads that hide them.

7. A four week local hiring plan

For a candidate already in Seoul with an open status. For a sponsored hire from Japan, use the 16 week timeline on the Korea guide.

General information from official sources as of September 2026, not legal or immigration advice. Pay bands are national survey figures, not offers. Residence and working holiday conditions are set by the Ministry of Justice and change; confirm with immigration or a licensed administrative agent before acting.