How Much Does Korean Daycare Cost — and Can Foreign Families Get Help?

What’s Actually Confirmed

Korea’s central government childcare subsidy for children aged 5 and under is restricted to children holding Korean nationality. That’s the baseline most foreign families run into first — and it’s genuinely surprising to a lot of people, since it means the standard “everyone gets daycare subsidized” assumption doesn’t automatically apply to a foreign-registered child.

What’s less well known is that individual cities and provinces have started filling that gap with their own local programs, specifically for foreign-registered children:

• Seoul supports foreign children at Seoul-certified daycares, covering a percentage of fees that differs by age group (higher support for ages 3–5 than for ages 0–2), and recently removed a previous age restriction so support now extends from infancy through age 5.
• Busan offers monthly support for foreign children aged 3–5, conditional on at least 90 days of residency in Busan.
• Gyeonggi Province offers monthly support for foreign children aged 0–5, conditional on at least 90 days of residency in the province, with the program having started in late 2025.

Exact amounts differ between our two source reports for the same city in some cases — a sign that these figures move, and center type/age band affect the final number. We’re intentionally not printing a single “the amount is X” figure here for that reason.

Other Family Support to Know About

Separate from daycare fee subsidies, Korea also runs a national child allowance (아동수당) and a parental allowance (부모급여) for infants. Whether these extend to a foreign-registered child without a Korean resident registration number is, per our sources, genuinely unclear in many cases — this is explicitly flagged as something to verify directly, not something we’re confirming as available.

How to Actually Check What You Qualify For

1. 1

   Call 129

   Korea’s official child-rearing information hotline can confirm current eligibility and amounts for your situation directly.

2. 2

   Check your local government’s website

   City- and province-level programs (like Seoul, Busan, and Gyeonggi’s) are administered locally — your specific city or district office will have the current, exact figures.

3. 3

   Ask your daycare directly

   Centers that already work with foreign families often know exactly which local programs their enrolled families have successfully used.

Our Own Experience — Historical, Not Current Policy

We once asked our local resident/community office directly about multicultural-family policies. At the time, Andrew came away understanding that multicultural families had first-priority status in the relevant daycare placement system — which genuinely surprised him. We’ve since heard that this specific policy has changed, so we’re not presenting it as how things currently work; if this applies to your family, ask your own local office for the current rules rather than relying on our experience.

Nicky also remembers a specific monthly figure being mentioned during that conversation — one that struck Andrew as surprisingly low at the time. We’re deliberately not printing that number here: neither of us can independently confirm it was the correct, current, or generally-applicable figure, and cost/subsidy amounts change. Treat any specific figure you hear the same way we should have — as something to verify directly, not repeat.

What Foreign Parents Should Know

• Don’t assume the national subsidy applies to you — it’s restricted to Korean-nationality children.
• Check whether your specific city or province runs its own program for foreign children — several already do.
• Have your residence registration and proof of local residency ready; most local programs require both.
• Call 129 or your local government office for the current, exact amount — published figures change and vary by source.
• Ask your daycare directly; centers with foreign families often already know the local process.