South Korea's Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced an agreement on October 22, 2026 with local-government representatives, the Korea Financial Telecommunications and Clearings Institute and private companies. The goal is to let people check local-tax refunds and request payment in familiar private-sector apps. The ministry plans to launch the connected service in December 2026. This is a future target, not a notice that the apps already offer the feature. If you need to check now, use the existing route instead of waiting for the planned launch.
How to check a refund now
Start at the official Wetax website to check whether a local-tax refund appears for you, or ask the relevant local government. The ministry describes the existing process as checking with a local government or on Wetax, then requesting payment by bank transfer. These are two different decisions: first establish whether there is a refund to claim; then look at the existing payment-request route for a refund that has been confirmed. Merely installing a private app does not establish that a refund is owed to you.
If you cannot determine the result through Wetax, contacting the local government is the other existing route the announcement names. Do not look for an unannounced refund menu in an app as a substitute for a current check. Go directly to the Wetax address cited in the ministry release rather than treating an unsolicited refund link as proof that a payment is available or complete.
What is the planned change?
Under its digital-service opening initiative, the ministry intends to link refund information held by local governments with the institute and participating private services. Its aim is to let people check a refund and then request payment within a private app they already use. That would add an app-based route to the existing need to contact a local government or visit Wetax separately. But the agreement starts work on system development and connections among the institutions; it is not evidence of a live app service.
The release sets December 2026 as the intended opening period. It does not give a precise launch day, app-by-app menu instructions or an opening date for every participating service. If you want to use an app later, check the actual launch announcement and the app's official instructions for whether both refund lookup and a payment request are supported. Until then, Wetax or the local government is the actionable route for checking an existing refund.
Bank transfer versus proposed payment-wallet options
According to the ministry, the existing payment request was by bank transfer. It also plans to offer payment to Paybook Money (BC Card), Monimoney (Samsung Card/Monimo) and KakaoPay Money (KakaoPay) after the connected service opens. Those are the three payment-money products actually named in the release. They are proposed additional ways to receive a refund, not options the ministry says are available through private-app refund claims now.
If you prefer a bank transfer, the planned app launch does not mean you must defer a current refund check or request. If you prefer a payment-money option, wait for official launch information before deciding which service supports that option and what steps apply. A product being mentioned as a proposed payment method does not mean all agreement participants will offer the same method.
Does the list of companies identify working apps?
No. The agreement names the ministry, associations representing local governments, the financial clearings institute, and BC Card, Samsung Card (Monimo), Shinhan Bank, IBK Industrial Bank of Korea, iM Bank, NH NongHyup Bank, Kakao, KakaoBank and KakaoPay. This is a list of participants in the agreement, not an inventory of apps where you can already check and claim a local-tax refund. Nor is it the same as the shorter list of three proposed payment-money products.
For an app you are considering, the useful test will be whether its official information, after the service opens, actually describes local-tax refund lookup and payment requests. A company name alone is insufficient. The ministry's original release explains the proposed data connection and payment options; it does not replace a later app-specific launch notice.
The practical distinction
Now: check Wetax or ask your local government whether you have a local-tax refund; the existing payment-request route described by the ministry uses bank transfer. Planned for December 2026: private-app checks and payment requests, with three named payment-money choices in addition to bank transfer. Confirm the actual opening date, participating apps and available payment options from official notices before relying on the new route.
Also on Naver Blog
The Korean summary is available at Life Mokcha's Naver post.
About the Author
Life Mokcha's editor, “Mokcha Keeper,” checks original public-agency announcements and separates what readers can do now from what is merely planned.
