Korean Independence Patriot Grandchild Benefits | 2026 Designation Calculator

Compare the family total before designating one grandchild

This calculator helps grandchildren of a Korean independence patriot compare a consensual compensation designation among people already confirmed to have the same priority.
The compensation rate depends on the decoration, while the designated recipient is excluded from living support intended for grandchildren who do not receive compensation.
Comparing the compensation payment alone can therefore miss a change in the remaining family members’ living support.

The family total can combine several assessed households, including households of siblings or cousins.
It is not one household’s income, a division of inheritance, or a decision awarding benefits.
Use confirmed eligibility and household information to prepare a comparison for the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, referred to here as MPVA.

Korea-specific rules: 2026, verified on 2026-11-01.
Supported reference dates run from the latest notice’s commencement on 2026-10-21 through 2026-12-31; that notice is not applied retrospectively to earlier dates.
The compensation eligibility and priority amendments effective on 2027-01-01 are not applied early.
Cumulative amounts hold 2026 rates fixed and are scenarios, not forecasts of future payments.

Check the grandchild compensation gate first

Patriot died by 1945-08-14

Article 12(2) of the Korean Act on the Honorable Treatment of Persons of Distinguished Service to Independence, includes one grandchild in the compensation scope for this death period.
Family registration and entitlement to receive compensation remain separate questions.
Confirm whether a spouse or child with an earlier entitlement still has priority.

Patriot died from 1945-08-15

Confirm whether all children had died when the family first registered, or whether children alive at that registration died without receiving compensation.
The original registration and the children’s payment histories matter.
A current family certificate alone may not establish those facts.

Under the current Article 12(2) proviso, a grandchild’s compensation entitlement does not transfer to another grandchild.
Choosing the initial recipient is different from trying to appoint another grandchild after an existing recipient’s entitlement has ended.
Unknown termination history, same-priority status, adoption or nationality facts require office review.

A confirmed zero compensation amount differs from a calculation held pending missing information.
A zero grandchild compensation result does not automatically rule out living support, which has its own application and assessment.

Prepare entitlement records and assessed-household information

Shared facts: decoration, death period, any earlier spouse or child entitlement, original registration facts, children’s compensation history, and any previous grandchild entitlement termination.
Candidates and priority: confirmed same-priority grandchildren, all applicable welfare qualifications, recognized principal support of the patriot, and ages.
Living support: the confirmed support band, assessment exemption or assessed income result, and the choice between living support and household assistance where applicable.
Assessed household: give the same household number to people included in the same MPVA means-test household.
Different registered addresses do not necessarily establish separate assessed households.
Assumed payment months: a user-selected duration for each person to test the fixed-rate scenario.
It is not life expectancy or a legally guaranteed award duration.

Compare up to six grandchildren using anonymous labels such as A, B and C.
Enter each assumed duration within 1–600 months.
A legal name or veterans registration number is unnecessary.
Initial unknown selections should be resolved from actual records; the sample scenario does not establish your family’s eligibility.

Without agreement, compare welfare qualifications in order

Enforcement Decree Article 5-2(2), gives effect to a consensual designation of one grandchild.
Without such agreement, same-priority grandchildren are compared in the following order.
The rule does not simply count how many qualifications each person has.

Livelihood benefit recipient
Medical benefit recipient
Housing benefit recipient
Education benefit recipient and household members, or near-poor status
Disability pension recipient
Basic pension recipient

If two candidates both receive livelihood benefit, compare medical benefit next, then housing benefit and each later category in sequence.
Where welfare categories cannot distinguish them, or none applies, recognized principal support of the patriot takes priority, followed by older age under Act Article 12(4)(1).
A complete tie or missing recognition evidence remains unresolved rather than being assigned to the first row.

Decree Article 3(1)(2) contains a separate registration-priority rule referring to children of the senior child.
That provision concerns relatives outside the compensation-recipient registration category and is not added as another compensation designation filter.
The displayed default recipient is only a reference based on confirmed inputs; the responsible office determines the actual entitlement.

2026 monthly compensation and separate death lump sums

Grandchildren use the non-spouse survivor amounts in Decree Annex 1.
Values published in thousands of won are converted to KRW below.
Do not add the patriot’s own award or a spouse’s rate.
Annex 2 death lump sums are conditional references and are excluded from monthly, annualized and duration totals.

2026 grandchild monthly compensation and conditional death lump sum by decoration, in KRW
Patriot’s decoration	Monthly compensation (KRW)	Death lump sum (KRW)
Order of Merit, grades 1–3	3,040,000	2,200,000
Order of Merit, grade 4 (Aeguk)	2,533,000	1,989,000
Order of Merit, grade 5 (Aejok)	2,057,000	1,127,000
National Foundation Medal	1,468,000	1,127,000
Presidential Citation	980,000	1,127,000

Apply both the living-support band and the shared-household rule

478,000 KRW monthly band

A livelihood or medical benefit recipient must have the assessment waived or have assessed income at or below 40% of the standard median income.
MPVA living-adjustment allowance recipients also use this band.
An ordinary assessment at or below 40% alone, without the required qualifying status, does not establish the higher band.

345,000 KRW monthly band

This covers people outside the higher band who qualify for an assessment exemption or have assessed income at or below 70% of the standard median income.
A basic-pension exemption requires a single-person or couple household consisting only of people aged 65 or older.

Assessed income combines evaluated income with income converted from assets; it is not simply salary or bank deposits.
Exemptions based on livelihood, housing, medical or education benefits, near-poor status and other official records still require the office’s confirmation.
Both the 40% and 70% thresholds include equality, but the other qualification and assessment conditions remain necessary.

For n confirmed living-support recipients in one assessed household, with a confirmed common base band and n ≥ 1, household support = base amount + 100,000 KRW × (n − 1).
With no recipients, support is zero.
Two people in the 345,000 KRW band receive a combined 445,000 KRW; three receive 545,000 KRW.
Two people in the 478,000 KRW band receive a combined 578,000 KRW.

The reviewed official text does not establish how to choose the base amount when 478,000 and 345,000 KRW bands are mixed within one assessed household, so that scenario is held for clarification.
The calculator does not assume the larger base.
The designated compensation recipient is removed from living support before counting the remaining recipients in each household.
Alternative household assistance and living support require a choice where both apply; an unresolved choice also needs review.

A person choosing household assistance is excluded from living support here.
The household-assistance payment itself is outside the family total, so this calculator does not determine which of the two programs is preferable.

Use the result to prepare an office consultation

Confirm the decoration, death period, earlier-priority relatives, registration history and any terminated grandchild entitlement.
Leave unverified facts unresolved rather than guessing.
Include the same-priority grandchildren and select every applicable welfare qualification, including overlaps.
Use evidenced principal-support status and ages.
Confirm assessed-household numbers, support bands and any household-assistance choice.
Check that shared-household recipients are not each counted at a full base rate.
Review the compensation and household-support breakdown for every proposed recipient.
Resolve pending items before treating any amount as a maximum.
Compare the default and agreed designation, monthly difference, twelve-month equivalent and assumed duration before saving or printing the review.
Prepare family and registration evidence, the same-priority relatives’ agreement, the support application, financial-information consent and income/asset records for the responsible MPVA office.

Act Article 8 starts the compensation right in the month containing the registration application date.
Living support needs its own application and assessment, so ask about available application steps and the applicable first month while family discussions continue.
A delay reference is an assumed monthly amount multiplied by months, not a determination of denied arrears or legal damages.

Check the monthly and twelve-month totals with a sample

Assume a grade 4 patriot’s same-priority grandchildren A, B and C belong to separate assessed households and all other conditions have been confirmed.
A is 72 and qualifies for the basic-pension living-support band of 345,000 KRW; B is 65 with the confirmed livelihood-benefit band of 478,000 KRW; C is 58 and confirmed outside living support.
With no separate principal-support issue, B is the default compensation recipient in this example.

Default designation: B

Compensation 2,533,000 + A’s support 345,000 = 2,878,000 KRW per month.
B’s 478,000 KRW support is not added again while B receives compensation.

Agreed designation: C

Compensation 2,533,000 + A 345,000 + B 478,000 = 3,356,000 KRW per month.
Twelve unchanged months equal 40,272,000 KRW, and the monthly difference from the default is 478,000 KRW.

This difference concerns the two included benefit types under fixed conditions.
If all three assumed durations are 120 months, C’s fixed-rate duration total is 402,720,000 KRW.
It does not recalculate assessed income or B’s livelihood benefit after C’s designation.
If they shared an assessed household, both recipient-count adjustments and the effect of compensation income could differ, so these sample numbers would not carry over.

Keep duration assumptions and death lump sums separate

Assumed payment months are not life expectancy automatically taken from a Korean life table.
You choose the durations to see how sensitive designation totals are to the assumptions.
Under fixed 2026 rates and confirmed support conditions, compensation ends when the designated recipient’s assumed duration ends and is not transferred to another grandchild.

When a living-support recipient’s assumed duration ends, the household amount is recalculated using the remaining support recipients.
Ending compensation does not automatically create a new living-support entitlement for the designated recipient.
Future legislation, inflation, health, income and assets are outside the scenario, so the output is neither a lifetime award nor a guaranteed payment total.

Death lump sums under Act Article 13(2)–(3) require separate conditions, including the absence of another survivor entitled to the compensation.
A relative who lived with the deceased and would inherit property must apply; if no such person exists, payment may be made to the person arranging the funeral.
The grade 4 figure of 1,989,000 KRW is a conditional reference, not an automatic payment or a monthly addition.

The largest included total is not a net-income recommendation

Designation can change assessed income within the same household, potentially requiring living-support reassessment or suspension.
Article 8-2 of the means-test notice also addresses cases where veterans payments alone establish that the support threshold is exceeded.
A maximum calculated with fixed support bands therefore does not establish disposable income or the legally best choice for the family.

Livelihood/basic-pension reductions, taxes, local allowances and household assistance are excluded.
The patriot’s special honor allowance and education, employment, medical and loan benefits require separate review.
Adoption, daughters-in-law, foreign nationality, multiple patriots, missing persons and disputed past entitlements need individual examination.
Ask the MPVA office and the local welfare office about changes to their respective benefits, and review the assumptions with the family before submitting an agreement.

Frequently asked questions

Does every grandchild qualify for compensation?

No.
Death period, children’s circumstances at first registration, earlier-priority relatives and prior entitlement history must satisfy the legal requirements.
Being a registered family member does not itself make someone the compensation recipient.

Can the family agree to designate someone outside livelihood benefit?

Decree Article 5-2(2) provides for designation by agreement among same-priority grandchildren.
The candidate scope, valid agreement and supporting documents need confirmation; a calculated maximum is not an agreement.

Can another sibling or cousin take over after the recipient dies?

The current Act Article 12(2) proviso says the grandchild entitlement does not transfer to another grandchild.
The scenario therefore does not restart compensation with a replacement grandchild after termination.

Do two recipients in one household receive twice the support?

No.
Within one assessed household, each recipient from the second onward adds 100,000 KRW.
Two recipients in the 345,000 KRW band total 445,000 KRW, and addresses alone must not be used to split the assessed household.

Is basic pension or assessed income below 40% enough by itself?

The associated conditions matter.
A basic-pension assessment exemption requires a single-person/couple household consisting only of people aged 65 or older.
An ordinary result at or below 40% alone does not create the 478,000 KRW band; a qualifying result at or below 70% outside the higher band uses 345,000 KRW.

Does pending mean that no money is payable?

Pending means the facts or calculation basis still need confirmation.
Resolve unknown bands, mixed bands within one household, or an unresolved household-assistance choice first.
This differs from a confirmed ineligible amount of zero.

Are the annual and duration totals forecasts?

The annual equivalent is the current monthly amount multiplied by 12; the duration total uses user-selected months with fixed 2026 rates.
Neither predicts lifespan or future awards, and the 2027 compensation amendments are not applied in advance.

What should I bring, and whom should I contact?

Bring registration and award decisions, family and children’s payment histories, same-priority agreement information, support assessment/application records and the comparison.
Contact the responsible MPVA office or 1577-0606, and ask the local welfare office about other benefits such as livelihood support.

Official sources and verification date

Current provisions were checked directly through the Korean National Law Information OPEN API on 2026-11-01.
Act MST 283367 is effective 2026-08-20 and Decree MST 288725 is effective 2026-08-25.
The reviewed provisions are Act Articles 5, 8, 12, 13 and 14-5, Decree Articles 3, 5-2, 6 and 8, and Annexes 1 and 2.
The means-test notice effective 2026-10-21 supplies Article 8-2, while pages 1 and 6 of the ministry’s 2026 schedule confirm compensation and death lump sums.

Act No 21616 changes compensation scope and priority from 2027-01-01.
Its medical-care provision effective 2026-11-13 has a different commencement date.
Recheck annual payment tables, living-support notices, assessed-household rules and transitional provisions before using later rules.

Bring a checked comparison to the designation discussion

Start with the confirmed same-priority grandchildren and assessed households, then resolve pending items with the MPVA office.
Save or print the designation breakdown for the agreement and living-support consultation so the family can see which assumptions create a difference.
Confirm the actual award scope and effects on other benefits before completing the family agreement.

Independence Patriot Grandchild Compensation & Living Support Calculator

1. Compensation eligibility and payment history

2. Same-rank candidates and assessed households (up to 6)

3. Confirmations and application-delay assumption