South Korea
Working Remotely on a Tourist Stay
Last verified August 7, 2026
Written for U.S. passport holders
F-1-D Workation Visa: Now Permanent
- Before mid-2026, remote work in Korea generally happened on a plain tourist stay, which was explicitly not an officially permitted use of that status, just a common, loosely-enforced practice.
- The F-1-D 'workation' visa ran as a pilot from January 2024 and was made a permanent program by the Ministry of Justice, announced July 7, 2026, allowing up to a 3-year stay, with income thresholds as low as roughly 1x Korea's Gross National Income for younger applicants outside Seoul, and dependents included.
Tax Residency
- Under 183 days present, Korea generally has no claim on your foreign-sourced remote income.
- Past 183 days, the treatment is less clear-cut in practice. Some F-1-D holders report being taxed only on Korea-sourced income, even though the law technically subjects tax residents to worldwide income taxation.
The Gotcha
The legal landscape for remote work in Korea changed substantially and recently. The F-1-D visa only became a permanent program in mid-2026, after running as a pilot since 2024. A lot of 'how to be a digital nomad in Korea' content still describes the earlier era, when working remotely there meant relying on an unofficial tourist-visa workaround rather than an actual formal legal status.
Sources
This page was drafted from the primary sources below. Rules change, so check the linked page directly before relying on any of this.
- (F-1-D) Workation (Digital Nomad) Pilot Program (Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles)