Exempt living expenses rise to 2,500,000 won: what the February 2026 amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Civil Execution Act changes

What changed

Article 2 of the Enforcement Decree defines the 'sum of money set by Presidential Decree' in Article 195(iii) of the Civil Execution Act. It read 1,850,000 won, reduced by deposits that may not be seized under Article 246(1)(8) of the Act; it now reads 2,500,000 won, reduced by the money listed in two items, namely deposits exempt under Article 246(1)(8) and deposits exempt under Article 246(1)(9), the latter including instalment savings, mutual instalments, deposits in trust and postal transfers. Article 3 raises the minimum amount for salary claims exempt under the proviso to Article 246(1)(4) from 1,850,000 won to 2,500,000 won a month. Article 7, covering deposits and the like exempt under Article 246(1)(9), now protects a per-person balance of 2,500,000 won or less, and its proviso subtracts from 2,500,000 won both money exempt under Article 195(iii) and deposits exempt under Article 246(1)(8). The official reason gives the aim as reflecting prices and minimum-wage rises in the amounts.

New Article 8 designates the financial institutions that may open a living-expenses account under Article 246-2(1) of the Act: banks under the Banking Act, the Korea Development Bank, the Industrial Bank of Korea, mutual savings banks, the cooperatives and their banks under the Agricultural Cooperatives Act and the Fisheries Cooperatives Act, credit cooperatives, forest cooperatives, community credit cooperatives, and post offices under the Act on Postal Savings and Insurance. The amount that may be held is 2,500,000 won. Interest may still be paid even where it pushes the balance or the deposits paid in over one month above that sum. With the depositor's consent, the institution must report an opening or closure immediately to the comprehensive credit information centre under Article 25(2)(i) of the Credit Information Act, giving the depositor's name, resident registration number and the opening or closure details, and before opening must ask that centre whether the depositor has opened such an account elsewhere; the centre must comply. This note has not read the Credit Information Act or the Acts naming the institutions.

Article 6 raises the exempt death insurance benefit from 10 million won to 15 million won, and the exempt surrender value arising for reasons other than the surrender reasons set out in the preceding sub-item and the exempt maturity return from 1,500,000 won to 2,500,000 won each.

What to read in the text

Addendum Article 1 puts the decree into force on 1 February 2026. Addendum Article 2 applies the amended Articles 2, 3, 6 and 7 to seizure order application cases received after the decree came into force; it says nothing about cases received earlier or about the new Article 8.

A file under Articles 2, 3, 6 or 7 therefore needs the date on which the seizure order application was received, on or after 1 February 2026, and the record of what is held under each provision of the Act, since the provisos to Articles 2 and 7 subtract specified protected amounts from the 2,500,000 won ceiling. For a living-expenses account, the file also needs the institution, the depositor's consent, the report to the comprehensive credit information centre, and the prior inquiry.

Questions for the legislature

New Article 8(5) requires the institution to ask the comprehensive credit information centre about 'the fact that the depositor has opened a living-expenses account' at another financial institution. Article 8(4) makes closures reportable as well as openings, and the Act requires one account per depositor, but the decree, the addendum and the official reason do not say how a previous account that has since been closed is counted. Does such a closed account bar the opening of a new living-expenses account?

New Article 8(3) allows interest to be paid even where it pushes the balance or the monthly deposits above the ceiling: 'the relevant interest may be paid'. The provisos to Articles 2 and 7 subtract other protected amounts from 2,500,000 won but do not say how interest credited above the ceiling is treated when a seizure order application is received. Is the excess counted as part of the balance compared with the ceiling, or is it ignored in that comparison?

When to revisit

We revisit this note if the Credit Information Act provisions named in Article 8(4) are read against this decree, if a decision explains how the subtractions in Articles 2 and 7 are made or how interest under Article 8(3) is treated, or if the amounts or the list of institutions change.