Moving to South Korea from Ireland

Irish passport holders can visit South Korea visa-free for up to 90 days, but living there takes a residence permit. The self-funded residency routes we track start at an investment of about $988k, and our residency index rates South Korea 55/100 for Irish citizens (possible, with conditions). We estimate €3,454 a month for a couple living centrally in Gwangju and €3,749 in Seoul. South Korea is in our high tax tier. Check the official requirements before you apply.

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Short stays
Visa-free 90 days
Irish passport
Residency
55/100
Possible, with conditions, our index
Tax tier
High
High personal income tax
Est. cost for two
From €3,454/mo
Gwangju, our estimate

Living there long term

Our residency index: 55/100, possible, with conditions. It is our own rating of how realistic long-term residency in South Korea is for Irish citizens, based on the routes South Korea publishes. Long-term residency is realistic via the points-based F-2-7 skilled-professional track, E-series employment visas that ladder into F-2 residence and then F-5 permanent residence, or capital-based investor schemes; there is no pure passive-income or retirement visa.

The cheapest self-funded routes we track:

  • Investment: about $988k (Immigrant Investor Scheme for Public Business (IISPB) public-interest fund, KRW 1.5 billion for F-2 residence (KRW 3bn grants F-5 directly); converted at 1,517.65 KRW/USD. Cheaper real-estate route (IISRE, ~KRW 0.7-1bn) lapsed at its 30 Apr 2026 sunset with no confirmed renewal.; as of June 2026)

Check the official requirements before you apply: amounts, conditions and exchange rates change, and what a couple needs can differ from a single applicant's threshold.

For short visits, Irish passport holders can visit visa-free for up to 90 days, according to the passport-index dataset. Short-stay entry covers visits; living there takes a residence permit.

Source: OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed approximations researched against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. Not legal advice: check the official source before you apply. Short-stay entry from the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT).

Where in South Korea to start

Ranked by our match model for a typical couple who both hold Irish passports, using the preset answers of our best places to live list. Your own answers would change the order. We pick the cities, up to five, by how often English Wikipedia readers looked them up over the past year.

  1. 1. Daegu

    84% match
    Est. cost
    €3,525/mo
    Avg temp
    14°C
    Safety index
    72/100

  2. 2. Gwangju

    83% match
    Est. cost
    €3,454/mo
    Avg temp
    14°C
    Safety index
    72/100

  3. 3. Busan

    83% match
    Est. cost
    €3,570/mo
    Avg temp
    14°C
    Safety index
    72/100

  4. 4. Incheon

    80% match
    Est. cost
    €3,558/mo
    Avg temp
    12°C
    Safety index
    72/100

  5. 5. Seoul

    77% match
    Est. cost
    €3,749/mo
    Avg temp
    12°C
    Safety index
    72/100

Cost of living for two

Our estimate for a couple living centrally runs from €3,454 a month in Gwangju to €3,749 in Seoul. For comparison, we estimate €4,127 a month in Dublin. Use these figures to compare places rather than to set a budget.

Source: our cost model: a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026). An estimate, not a survey of current prices.

Taxes

South Korea is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax); Ireland is in our high tax tier (high personal income tax). Tiers describe each country's own income tax. They do not cover tax you may still owe in Ireland after you leave, or the treaty between the two countries, so check both with a tax adviser before you move.

Source: OurNextCity tax tiers, assigned by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation, with no fixed rate cut-offs. Coarse by design; not tax advice.

Compare cities in South Korea

Lists with cities in South Korea

Moving to South Korea from elsewhere

Every country and origin we cover

How we built this page

Every figure here comes from the datasets behind our city and country pages:

  • Short-stay entry: the passport-index dataset (ilyankou, MIT license), which records the entry rule for short visits on each passport.
  • Residency index, routes and thresholds: the OurNextCity residency dataset, hand-reviewed against published immigration rules, figures as of June 2026. It is a summary, not legal advice.
  • City ranking: our match model, the one behind the quiz, run with a typical couple's preset answers and both partners holding Irish passports. It ranks up to five of the country's best-known cities: of the cities in our quiz (100,000 people or more, capitals and a few towns movers seek out, such as Faro), the five most read about on English Wikipedia over the past year. It folds suburbs into their main city and leaves out countries with a residency index under 40 and areas under a US State Department Level 4 advisory, as our best-cities lists do.
  • Costs: our cost model, a country-level cost-of-living index scaled for city size, from our city dataset (last rebuilt June 2026).
  • Tax tiers: three coarse bands we assign by hand from each country's top marginal personal income tax rate and overall tax reputation.