Compare a modified Korean rehabilitation plan with special-discharge review
Losing a job, closing a business, taking medical leave or receiving lower wages can make an approved personal rehabilitation payment difficult to maintain.
Separate what could be paid in the future from what creditors have actually received already.
This calculator supports consultation about modifying an approved plan and preparing a special-discharge application; it does not assess eligibility for an initial rehabilitation application.
A spouse or adult child helping with the records can use the same worksheet with the approved plan, court deposit history and distribution statement.
Korea-based 2026 rules · verified 2026-11-08
The calculator uses the Debtor Rehabilitation and Bankruptcy Act effective 2026-10-02 and a 2026 living-cost reference.
All monetary inputs and results are KRW.
The result does not establish approval, discharge, a probability of success or legal eligibility.
Arithmetic shortfalls and evidence requiring a court decision are shown separately; creditor-specific distributions and the actual case record require review by the rehabilitation commissioner or a legal representative.
Modification and special discharge answer different questions
Modification: can the revised plan be performed?
Article 619 permits a proposed modification of an approved plan before payments under the plan have been completed.
Provisions including Article 611 on duration and Article 614 on approval requirements apply to the proposal.
A lower monthly payment alone does not establish that a modification will be approved.
Feasibility, the liquidation comparison, objections and other case requirements must also be reviewed.
Special discharge: why was completion impossible?
Article 624(2) allows the court to decide on discharge after hearing interested parties when all three statutory requirements are met despite non-completion.
The aggregate money comparison in this calculator is a reference for the second requirement.
Having paid an amount above a liquidation reference does not by itself establish special discharge.
If the plan has been completed, first confirm the ordinary discharge procedure under Article 624(1).
If termination has become final, do not read the worksheet as establishing that modification or special discharge remains available in the terminated case.
Confirm the procedural status first.
An increase in income or assets can also require review of reporting and modification obligations in the approved plan.
Prepare four groups of records
- Approval order and approved plan: identify the actual repayment start date, approval date, monthly payment and total installments.
The commencement order date and the repayment start date can differ; using the wrong one changes the remaining schedule.
- Deposit and distribution ledger: identify completed installments, installments in arrears, deposits paid to the court and amounts actually distributed to the relevant creditors.
Partial payments can make installments multiplied by the approved monthly payment differ from actual cumulative payments.
- Asset valuation: identify the amount the same creditors would receive in an assumed bankruptcy.
Do not substitute gross assets less total debt for an assessed distributable amount.
Exempt property, realization costs and priority claims require separate review.
- Income and living-cost evidence: collect payslips, records explaining resignation or leave, business closure records and medical and housing expenses.
Selecting job loss as the reason does not establish that the cause was beyond the debtor’s responsibility.
The assessment date is the reference point for this calculation.
Installments due on or before that date are separated from installments falling afterward, so changing the date can change the remaining count.
Align the ledger and asset valuation to a consistent reference date before drawing conclusions from the comparison.
2026 basic living-cost references and monthly disposable income
The default basic living-cost reference is 60% of the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s 2026 standard median income, rounded to whole KRW.
The calculator supports recognized households of one through six people; recognized dependants need not equal everyone registered at the same address.
Additional housing, medical or education costs can be entered separately, but entering a cost does not establish that the court will recognize it.
The Seoul Bankruptcy Court’s 2026 announcement separately addresses additional living costs and recognition of a spouse as a dependant.
Monthly 2026 standard median income and 60% basic living-cost reference by recognized household size, in KRW| Recognized household | Standard median income | 60% reference |
|---|
| 1 person | 2,564,238 | 1,538,543 |
| 2 people | 4,199,292 | 2,519,575 |
| 3 people | 5,359,036 | 3,215,422 |
| 4 people | 6,494,738 | 3,896,843 |
| 5 people | 7,556,719 | 4,534,031 |
| 6 people | 8,555,952 | 5,133,571 |
Confirm the application year and any court-recognized basic amount
Seoul practice Rule 405 refers to median income at the time of the personal rehabilitation application.
The 2026 table is a consultation assumption for older cases and does not automatically replace a previously recognized living allowance.
Where the actual case uses another basic amount, enter the court-confirmed basic living-cost override and the recognized household size.
Enter only additional expenses not already included in that basic amount; the override is not a reason to count the same expense twice.
Avoid deducting taxes and insurance twice
Monthly disposable income = monthly income − monthly tax and insurance deductions − basic living costs − additional living costs
If income is entered before deductions, enter the corresponding deductions separately.
If take-home income is entered, do not subtract taxes and premiums already withheld.
A negative result is displayed as zero repayment capacity with a separate living-cost deficit.
Zero capacity does not establish recognition of all expenses or entitlement to special discharge; review spending and the expected date of income recovery as well.
The three-year principle and five-year exceptional limit
The starting point under Article 611(5) is the repayment start date.
The general period must not exceed three years; special circumstances, including the need to satisfy the liquidation comparison, can permit a period within five years.
The calculator shows 36-month and 60-month reference schedules, but it does not treat 60 months as an extension everyone can demand.
A proposed total above 36 months has a separate evidence status for special circumstances.
Elapsed time is already part of the total duration
The modified total duration is the full number of months from the repayment start.
Entering 60 months after 24 installments have fallen due does not create 60 new installments.
Only scheduled due dates after the assessment date count as future installments.
Arrears are not automatically added after the end of the new duration.
When a monthly due date does not exist, the last day of that month is used.
If completed installments plus arrears exceed installments due by the assessment date, correct the dates or ledger before using the result.
This simplified schedule assumes equal monthly payments.
Variable installments, separate additional payments or a court-approved special deferral schedule must be reconciled with the actual plan.
An arithmetic ability to pay within a period is separate from legal approval.
If special circumstances have not been established, use the shorter and longer schedules as consultation comparisons.
Read nominal totals and present values together
Article 614(1)(4) compares total rehabilitation payments valued at the approval date with the amount distributable in bankruptcy, and provides an exception involving creditor consent.
Article 614(2) adds requirements where there are objections.
This worksheet treats the assessment date as an assumed modification approval date for a simplified reference model.
It does not establish the actual approval-date valuation, creditor-specific fairness or the additional requirements triggered by objections.
Nominal comparison
Nominal total = actual creditor receipts + monthly disposable income × remaining installments
The comparison floor is the entered bankruptcy distribution estimate plus an asset increase not yet included in that estimate.
If the estimate already reflects the increase, enter zero additional increase.
The shortfall is the amount by which the comparison floor exceeds the calculated total.
Present-value comparison
The annual discount assumption is converted to a monthly rate, and future monthly payments are discounted from month one onward.
Monthly rate = (1 + annual percentage ÷ 100) raised to 1/12, minus 1.
Actual receipts are added without revaluing their past payment dates.
At 0% the present value equals the nominal total; a positive rate reduces the value of future payments.
The entered discount rate is not a fixed statutory rate.
The required monthly amount divides the remaining comparison floor by the sum of the remaining monthly discount factors and rounds upward to whole KRW.
Where no installments remain and a shortfall exists, no required monthly amount can be given.
Money deposited with the court but not yet distributed is not treated as money already received by creditors.
Confirm its allocation and payment timing separately.
Do not mix costs or priority-claim distributions with ordinary-creditor receipts used for the comparison.
Read all three special-discharge requirements separately
Requirement 1: a cause beyond the debtor’s responsibility
The court decides whether completion failed for a cause the debtor cannot be held responsible for.
Evidence can include the circumstances of leaving employment, business closure, diagnosis and treatment, loss of income and prospects for recovery.
Selecting confirmed in the worksheet is the user’s evidence status, not a court finding.
Leave the status unknown if it has not been reviewed.
Requirement 2: actual receipts compared with bankruptcy distributions
Amounts received by rehabilitation creditors by the discharge decision must be no less than amounts distributable if the debtor applied for bankruptcy.
An equal aggregate amount meets the calculator’s aggregate reference threshold; even a KRW 1 deficit is shown as a shortfall.
Sufficient deposits with the court cannot substitute for lower actual creditor receipts.
Additional distributions up to the discharge decision and creditor-specific compliance still need separate review.
Requirement 3: modification is impossible
Impossibility of modifying the plan also requires court review.
A shortfall at the entered income or under the 36-month scenario does not automatically establish impossibility.
Other performance arrangements, future income, a period justified by special circumstances and recognition of living expenses may affect the review.
Even when all three requirements are prepared, refusal grounds under Article 624(3) and non-dischargeable claims under Article 625(2) require attention.
Seoul filing reference and installment arrears
Seoul Bankruptcy Court practice Rule 442, Article 2(1), calls for a modification proposal by three months before payment completion unless there are special circumstances.
The calculator subtracts three calendar months from the final due date of the original approved schedule.
It adjusts missing dates to month-end and does not add a holiday extension.
This Seoul reference is not automatically applied to other courts.
A passed reference date does not by itself establish a statutory bar or loss of a right to apply; confirm the court’s practice and the actual case status.
Is there a fixed number of missed installments causing termination?
Article 621(1)(2) addresses a clear inability to perform the approved plan and includes an exception involving special discharge.
This calculator does not invent an automatic termination threshold from a particular arrears count.
The estimated arrears equal arrears installments × the original monthly payment; partial payments are not reflected in that estimate.
Under Article 621(2), the effect of payments already made is preserved.
Termination does not mean every payment disappears or the entire original debt revives without credit for those payments.
Confirm the remaining debt, interest and enforcement consequences from the case record.
Worked example: a lower monthly burden and a separate special-discharge deficit
Assume repayment starts on 2024-11-25, approval occurs on 2025-01-10 and the assessment date is 2026-11-08 for an original 36-installment plan.
Of 24 installments due, 20 are completed and four are in arrears.
The original monthly payment is KRW 800,000; court deposits total KRW 16,000,000 and actual creditor receipts total KRW 15,000,000.
The bankruptcy comparison floor is KRW 20,000,000, with no additional asset increase and a 0% discount rate.
Modified-plan reference
Monthly income of KRW 2,300,000 less deductions of KRW 100,000, a one-person basic living reference of KRW 1,538,543 and additional living costs of KRW 100,000 leaves KRW 561,457 per month.
There are 12 remaining installments in the original schedule.
Adding those future payments to actual receipts gives KRW 21,737,484, above the aggregate reference floor.
The monthly burden is KRW 238,543 below the original payment, but approval requires a separate review.
Special-discharge reference
Actual receipts of KRW 15,000,000 are KRW 5,000,000 below the KRW 20,000,000 comparison floor.
Future planned payments have not yet been received and are not added to this special-discharge comparison.
The 60-month scenario has 36 remaining installments and a nominal total of KRW 35,212,452.
If special circumstances have not been reviewed, the duration evidence remains unknown.
The original final due date is 2027-10-25 and the Seoul filing reference is 2027-07-25.
These are arithmetic results for the stated assumptions.
Recalculate if the discount assumption, recognized living amount or asset valuation changes.
Checking deposit records and distribution statements separately helps avoid understating the special-discharge shortfall.
Three consultation routes after reading the result
Prepare a modification
If future income can support performance, take the proposed monthly amount, duration and asset valuation to consultation.
For a temporary reduction, discuss the recovery date and any need to modify the plan again after recovery.
Do not reduce payments under the existing plan solely because the calculator’s numbers appear sufficient.
Review special discharge
Alongside actual receipts, prepare evidence of a cause beyond the debtor’s responsibility and impossibility of modification.
Review creditor-specific distribution, omitted claims and compliance with the debtor’s obligations even if aggregate receipts appear sufficient.
Gather records before changing an evidence status from unknown to confirmed.
Discuss bankruptcy
If basic living expenses cannot be covered or other plans also appear difficult, organize assets and all debts for consultation.
This result does not determine bankruptcy eligibility or prospects for discharge.
Review the status of the current case, the costs of another procedure and non-dischargeable claims.
Frequently asked questions
Does depositing the liquidation amount establish special discharge?
No.
Court deposits and actual creditor receipts can differ, all three Article 624(2) requirements need review, and an aggregate reference is distinct from creditor-specific compliance.
Can I mark modification impossible when a scenario has a shortfall?
A numerical shortfall alone does not establish impossibility.
Review future income, recognition of expenses, other performance arrangements and duration with the commissioner or representative before recording the evidence status.
Are arrears automatically added to the modified plan?
Arrears installments are used to check the ledger and show an estimate.
The model does not extend the duration automatically or assume the arrears are forgiven.
Discuss how the proposed modification would treat actual arrears.
Should I give up if the Seoul three-month reference has passed?
Special circumstances can matter, and the Seoul practice reference must be distinguished from Article 619’s rule concerning submission before completion.
Confirm actual performance and the court’s procedure promptly rather than treating the display as a statutory bar.
Can changed family support or divorce be reflected?
You can compare a different recognized household and additional living expenses.
A changed family relationship does not itself establish recognition of all people or expenses.
Collect support, residence and spending evidence.
Can I keep using the asset valuation in the original plan?
Asset increases and a changed valuation date can require updated review.
Do not add an increase again if it is already included in the valuation.
Confirm the actual modification-approval valuation and distributions in the bankruptcy assumption.
Official sources and future updates
The verification date is 2026-11-08.
Recheck the Act, practice rules, living costs, court-specific guidance and actual valuation date after an amendment or when considering another rule year.
Future income, discounts, additional expenses and asset increases remain user assumptions until the relevant case review confirms them.
Reconcile deposits and distributions before preparing consultation
Confirm the assessment date and actual receipts, then compare temporary and continuing income reductions.
Use unknown evidence items to prepare a document checklist rather than adjusting evidence statuses to make the result appear favorable.
For a first application, see the initial personal rehabilitation simulator.
For a budget for another procedure, see the personal bankruptcy cost calculator.