Official law and service information checked: .
A recruiter asks for proof of your previous work in Korea. You send your contract, but the reply asks for a certificate showing the actual employment dates and duties. Your old work email no longer opens, and the manager you knew has left.
To request a Korean employment certificate, contact the employer's HR team or designated certificate service. Ask for a 재직증명서 for current employment, or a 경력증명서 documenting the relevant work history, and specify the facts the receiving organization needs. Insurance records may help support your history, but do not assume they replace an employer's statement about your duties.
This guide is for foreign employees and former employees dealing with Korean workplace records. It covers requesting, checking and submitting documents—not drafting your own official proof or deciding your immigration eligibility.
Start with the recipient's requirement, not an online template.
Confirm the document name, required details, language, issue-date requirement and accepted submission format. Then send one precise request to the organization that can verify those facts.
An authentic certificate can still be the wrong document for the application.
Jump to: Document names · Employer obligations · Requesting a certificate · English copies · Online records · Refusals and missing records
재직증명서 vs 경력증명서: which certificate do you need?
- 재직증명서 — certificate of current employment
- Confirms that you currently work for the issuing employer. Check whether the recipient also needs your start date, position, duties or pay.
- 경력증명서 — career or work-experience certificate
- Documents employment history, commonly requested after leaving a job. Ask for the relevant employment period and responsibilities rather than assuming a title alone will establish the experience you need.
- 사용증명서 — the statutory employment-certificate term
- The term used in the Labor Standards Act. It concerns factual employment information, not a recommendation that the employer should praise you.
The Women Enterprise Supporting Center's employment-certificate explanation describes the relationship between these names. Its article is dated October 13, 2021; the current statutory provision is linked below.
Do not confuse 경력증명서 with 경력기술서, the detailed career statement you prepare to explain your work. Your own account of a project is useful application material, but it is not an employer-issued certificate. Ask separately when a recipient wants a recommendation or reference letter.
A contract records agreed terms; it does not necessarily confirm the work ultimately performed or the date employment actually ended. Keep it as supporting evidence. Our employment-contract clarification guide covers checking those agreed terms.
Does a Korean employer have to issue a certificate?
Article 39 of the Labor Standards Act requires an employer to issue a truthful certificate immediately when a worker requests employment information, including after departure. The listed subjects include employment period, type of work, position, wages and other necessary particulars. Only the matters the worker requests should be included.
Article 19 of the Enforcement Decree sets the request conditions: at least 30 days of continuous employment, with a request made within three years after leaving. Seoul's official administrative guide reproduces both provisions. Its own issuing service is for the city personnel described there, not a route for every private employee.
The three years concern the statutory request window—not a certificate's expiry date. They also do not prohibit an employer from supplying an older record voluntarily. For a shorter job, an older request or a disputed employment relationship, ask what can be issued and obtain case-specific advice rather than assuming the usual entitlement applies unchanged.
The law's wording is immediate issuance, not a universal three- or seven-working-day allowance. State your submission deadline and ask about delivery, but distinguish your requested date from the employer's legal obligation.
Ask the receiving organization what it must be able to verify
Before asking HR, clarify whether the purpose is to prove current employment, a particular kind of experience, earnings or the end of a job. Those needs may call for different documents or details.
- Content: Which employer, dates, position, duties and, if needed, hours or pay must appear?
- Language: Is Korean accepted, or is an employer-issued English version or specified translation required?
- Format: Will a PDF or scan work, or is an original, issuer verification or direct delivery from HR required?
- Recency: Is there a stated issue-date window or a specific date as of which employment must be confirmed?
Do not impose a blanket “valid for three months” rule on every certificate. Follow the receiving organization's written instructions. If they merely say “recent,” ask for a date or acceptable period.
For an immigration submission, take the exact document request and your circumstances to the Immigration Contact Center, 1345, or the handling office. Ask before paying for translation, notarization or authentication. A proof-of-employment letter is not itself permission to start or change work; our guide to verifying work authorization before starting covers that separate stage.
How to request the certificate from your current or former employer
Start with the legal employer
Check the employer named on your contract, not just the brand on the building. Contact HR, personnel administration or the certificate service identified on the company's own site. In a small business, ask the owner who handles employment records.
A host company and a dispatch employer may have different roles. For example, Deloitte Korea's former-employee certificate page directs dispatched workers to their dispatch company. Its own alumni process has a dedicated request route. This is an employer-specific example of finding the correct issuer, not a service available to people who worked elsewhere.
Give HR enough information to find the record
Provide your name as recorded during employment, former employee number if known, department and employment dates. Explain any name change or different English spelling. Supply supporting identity information only through the company's verified procedure; do not attach a full Residence Card scan to an unverified email simply to make the request look complete.
Specify the requested document, fields, language, submission deadline and delivery method. If the recipient provides a form, attach it and ask whether HR can complete it or issue an acceptable equivalent. Do not ask someone merely to stamp a document whose facts they have not checked.
After resignation, look for a former-employee route
If the intranet no longer works, look for 퇴직자 증명서, 제증명 발급 or an alumni contact on the official employer site. Ask for a route you can use with your personal email and current contact details.
Keep the request and acknowledgment together. A download request, a completed certificate and the recipient's acceptance are three different milestones. Open the actual file before telling the recruiter the document is ready.
A Korean request you can send to HR
Replace the brackets and remove fields you do not need. This example requests a former-employment certificate without salary; change it if the recipient specifically requires pay information.
제목: 경력증명서 발급 요청 — [성명 / 사번]
안녕하세요. [부서]에서 [입사일]부터 [퇴직일]까지 근무한 [성명]입니다. [제출 목적]으로 경력증명서 발급을 요청드립니다.
근무기간, 부서, 직위 및 담당업무를 기재해 주세요. 급여 정보는 이번 제출에 필요하지 않아 제외해 주세요.
[국문/영문]으로 발급이 필요한데, 가능한 발급 방식과 본인확인 절차를 안내해 주시면 감사하겠습니다. 제출 마감은 [날짜]입니다. 발급 시점과 수령 방법을 알려 주세요. 감사합니다.
In English: “I worked in [department] from [start] to [end] and am requesting a career certificate for [purpose]. Please include my employment period, department, position and duties, excluding salary because it is not needed for this submission. I need [Korean/English]. Please explain the available issuance method, identity check, expected issue date and delivery arrangements. My submission deadline is [date].”
For current employment, a shorter request is:
현재 재직 중임을 확인할 수 있는 재직증명서를 요청드립니다. 성명, 회사명, 입사일, 부서와 직위를 기재해 주세요. 제출처에서 요구하는 추가 항목은 별도로 전달드리겠습니다.
Please issue a certificate confirming my current employment, showing my name, employer, start date, department and position. I will provide any additional fields required by the recipient separately.
English employment certificates, translations and overseas use
Ask first whether the employer issues an English certificate. For example, the Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology's certificate request form includes a Korean/English selection. That illustrates an issuer's option, not a requirement that every employer provide every requested language or template.
If only Korean is available, ask the recipient which translation route it accepts. For overseas use, confirm whether notarization, an apostille or other authentication is needed before ordering it. Neither a self-translated PDF nor an expensive authentication package should be assumed necessary or sufficient without those instructions.
Keep names, employer identity, dates and responsibilities consistent across versions. Do not translate a junior role into “manager” simply because it sounds more familiar, or turn project assistance into sole leadership. Ask HR to approve any proposed English wording that will appear as its statement.
Check facts and verification, not just the company stamp
Review the employment period, current-versus-ended status, department, title and requested duties. If you held several roles, check whether the periods are separated clearly enough for the receiving organization.
Fictional wording comparison—not an achievement to copy:
“Operations support” gives a broad category. “Prepared weekly inventory summaries and coordinated delivery enquiries with suppliers” explains the work more precisely.
Request that level of detail only when it is accurate and relevant. The issuer must verify the facts; your preferred phrasing does not establish them.
Check the issue date and the requested signature, seal, issuer contact or verification method. Deloitte's certificate instructions, for instance, accept their color-printed seal without an in-person stamping visit. Do not turn that issuer-specific rule into a promise that every downloaded certificate satisfies every recipient.
For a job application, compare the certificate with the CV and statements you submitted. Our Korean job-interview preparation guide explains how to prepare to discuss those same dates, responsibilities and examples.
Can you get proof of employment online without HR?
Government24 is not a universal private-employer certificate service
The Government24 service named 재직(퇴직·경력)증명 describes proof for people who work or worked in public institutions, with limits on its online application categories. Its title does not mean it can issue a detailed certificate for any private-company job.
For public employment, follow the stated scope or contact the institution's personnel office. For an ordinary private employer, start with its own records service. Other public records may support the application, but agree on their acceptance first.
National Pension Service: 가입자 가입증명(국/영문)
The NPS subscription-certificate service provides Korean or English evidence of recorded pension participation. It allows selection of a particular workplace; the selected workplace's full history is shown, rather than an arbitrary date range.
Open that official service, complete its identity check, select the required language and record scope, and use the actual certificate-issuance function. Check the document before submitting it. NPS lists alternatives to website issuance, including branch visits; unattended issuance does not provide the English version.
Use this as evidence of pension history, not an employer-authored account of duties or achievements. If the recipient requires specific work experience, ask whether it accepts the pension record together with other evidence. A “no history” result concerns NPS records; it is not a conclusion about every job you have ever held.
National Health Insurance: 자격득실확인서
Government24's health-insurance qualification-history service checks acquisition and loss of health-insurance status. Read the status category and workplace information instead of treating every period on the record as employment.
Ask the recipient what this record can establish for its review. It cannot answer a detailed question about your responsibilities merely because a workplace appears on it. If a job or date is missing or disputed, ask the insurer and employer to check the underlying record rather than editing the output yourself.
Likewise, a payslip or tax record may support an earnings question but does not automatically meet a request for current employment or occupational duties. Request the document the reviewer actually needs, not the easiest download with your name on it.
When the request gets stuck
HR refuses because you already left
Send a factual written follow-up with the original request date, employment period and specific fields requested. The government's Easy Law explanation expressly covers issuance after departure. Check the request conditions above rather than treating resignation itself as a complete answer.
Ask for the reason for refusal and the appropriate records contact. If the company conditions issuance on a disputed repayment, handover or settlement, preserve that message and seek advice before signing something simply to obtain the document.
Contact MOEL's 1350 counseling service, which lists weekday hours of 09:00–18:00 and caller-paid calls. Ask about the applicable obligation and complaint route. Its official online-application page directs labor matters to the Labor Portal. A counseling enquiry and a formal complaint are not the same filing.
Have the employer's identity, your dates, contract, request and response ready. Ask about language assistance. Do not post an unredacted employment record in a public discussion board; MOEL's mobile-counseling page warns that its real-time questions are public.
The company closed, merged or no longer has the records
Check whether an identifiable successor, remaining personnel office or responsible representative holds the records. Keep a note of your contact attempts. Do not pay an intermediary who promises to create an employer certificate without access to an authorized issuer.
Tell the recipient what is unavailable and ask which combination it will consider: an older certificate, available insurance history, contract, payslips or other records. A former supervisor's statement should identify who issued it and in what capacity; do not present it as a newly authorized company certificate without confirmation.
Explain what each document proves and what remains missing. MOEL can advise on a workplace-document dispute, but do not assume a complaint produces a replacement certificate or that the recipient must accept your proposed substitutes.
The dates, name or duties are wrong
Identify the exact field and attach relevant supporting evidence through the issuer's verified channel. Distinguish the last day you physically attended, the employment end date and a date used by an insurance record. Ask what each represents before demanding that every date be made identical.
발급받은 증명서의 [항목]이 실제 기록과 다릅니다. [근거자료]를 첨부하니 확인 후 정정 발급해 주세요.
The [field] on the issued certificate differs from the actual record. I have attached [supporting evidence]. Please check it and issue a corrected certificate.
Request reissuance rather than replacing text in a signed PDF. If the certificate includes salary, a departure reason or another matter you did not request, refer to Article 39's requested-information rule and ask for the appropriate correction.
You were called a freelancer, intern or project worker
Describe the actual arrangement when asking for advice; do not decide entitlement from the label alone. If the work was genuinely independent contracting, ask the client for a factual project or service confirmation and confirm its acceptance with the recipient. Do not relabel client work as employment to fit an application box.
Your Korean phone is inactive, or you are already abroad
Identify whether access is blocked by the employer's portal or an agency's identity check. Ask the actual issuer about an alternative verification and delivery route using your current details. Do not borrow another person's login or send your authentication codes to someone offering to download the record.
For NPS issuance questions, the official service page lists 1355 in Korea and +82-63-713-6900 from abroad, weekdays 09:00–18:00 Korean time, with call charges. Ask about the channel and documents needed for your circumstances rather than assuming overseas access works identically.
The receiving portal rejects the PDF, or the deadline is tomorrow
Read the rejection: file size, password protection, unreadable text, missing duties and an old issue date need different fixes. Ask the issuer for a supported version where necessary. Do not upload employment records to an unfamiliar public file-conversion service.
Contact the recipient before the deadline with proof of your request and the documents already available. Ask whether later supplementation or an alternative is accepted, and keep the answer. An unanswered extension request is not an extension; a certificate request is not a completed application.
Before your last day—and before the next submission
Ask how to request records after departure while you still know the relevant people. Save copies of your own contract, issued certificates, payslips and authorized employment records in a private location. Do not export company files or client material as “proof of work.”
For each submission, check that the certificate covers the right employer and period, includes the requested facts, uses an accepted language and format, and meets any issue-date instruction. Keep the version submitted and the receipt or acknowledgment.
Before sending the file, compare it with the original request once more. Ask HR about a missing duty, date or issuer detail while there is still time to correct it, rather than discovering the omission after the application deadline.
Sources and scope: Article 39 was checked in the National Law Information Center's text effective October 8, 2026 (checked October 9, 2026). Seoul's administrative guide reproduces the Article 19 request conditions. The Women Enterprise Supporting Center's 2021 explanation supplies terminology context; Easy Law explains the employer obligation. Government24, NPS, KRICT, Deloitte, MOEL and immigration pages support their own services and examples.
Public information and the linked AllThingsK8282 articles were checked on September 29, 2026. No personal account, live application or certificate issuance was tested. Request templates, the fictional duties example and troubleshooting checklists are editorial guidance. Recipient acceptance, disputed employee status and enforcement require the relevant facts and current rules; this article is not an individual legal or immigration assessment.
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