The number of people who collected unemployment benefits three or more times over the past five years reached 113,000 last year, with one person claiming benefits as many as seven times.
Some 65,000 people received benefits last year after repeatedly quitting and rejoining the same workplace. Payments to those claiming benefits three or more times totaled about 600 billion won ($430 million) in a single year.
113,000 Collected Benefits Three or More Times Over Five Years
Data submitted by the Ministry of Employment and Labor to the office of Rep. Kim So-hee of the People Power Party, a member of the National Assembly's Climate, Energy, Environment and Labor Committee, showed on Sept. 29 that 113,000 people claimed unemployment benefits three or more times over the past five years as of last year.
The figure rose from 102,000 in 2022 to 110,000 in 2023 and 113,000 in 2024, holding at that level last year. Through July of this year, 77,000 people had already collected benefits three or more times.
Benefits paid to this group last year totaled 599.754 billion won, or an average of about 5.3 million won per person.
The number claiming benefits five or more times is also rising. That group stood at 13,000 in 2022 and 14,000 in both 2023 and 2024, before climbing to 15,000 last year.
They received a combined 61.086 billion won in benefits last year. The highest number of claims by a single person was seven.
Unemployment benefits support workers enrolled in employment insurance who lose their jobs involuntarily while they look for new work. Claimants must have been insured for at least 180 days during the 18 months before leaving a job, but there is no cap on how many times benefits can be claimed.
The number of people collecting benefits after repeatedly quitting and rejoining the same employer has hovered around 60,000 a year.
That figure rose from 58,000 in 2022 to 66,000 in 2023 and 67,000 in 2024, before easing to 65,000 last year.
False Resignations and Unreported Jobs Drive Up Fraud Cases
Separately from repeat claims, authorities have uncovered a string of fraud cases in which claimants misrepresented the reasons they left their jobs.
Ministry investigations from 2022 through 2025 identified 412 people who voluntarily quit but had their departures recorded as involuntary, such as contract expirations or dismissals at the employer's recommendation, to collect benefits. The fraudulent payments totaled 3.1 billion won.
Overall detections of benefit fraud have also trended higher. Cases fell slightly from 23,869 in 2022 to 22,892 in 2023, then rose to 24,418 in 2024 and 25,105 last year.
The most common methods were misreporting actual employment periods or reasons for leaving, or failing to report new employment while receiving benefits.
One claimant found a job while collecting benefits but colluded with the employer to be paid in cash, concealing the employment and continuing to draw benefits until being caught.
Another claimant voluntarily quit, then arranged with the owner of a former business partner to fabricate a short-term employment contract without actually working there, and collected benefits on that basis.
Investigators also found organized fraud involving brokers. An operator of five businesses in Daegu was found to have recruited fictitious workers through four brokers over the past seven years, taking 540 million won in benefits and other payments.
Over the past five years, four detected cases of benefit fraud involved brokers. The ministry referred all those involved to prosecutors with a recommendation to indict.
Claimants caught collecting benefits fraudulently can be barred from future payments and face additional collections of up to five times the fraudulent amount. They may also face up to five years in prison or fines of up to 50 million won.
"Administrative guidelines and monitoring alone cannot stop the abuse of short-term hiring and resignations involving as many as 110,000 people," Kim said. "Beyond the government's proposed benefit reductions, fundamental reform is needed, such as raising the insurance requirement from just 180 days to 12 months."
