Lease Renewal Right in Korea: One 2-Year Renewal, and Only 9 Reasons to Refuse

When and how often you can use it

The contract renewal request right (계약갱신요구권) lets a tenant demand renewal, and the landlord cannot refuse without a legitimate reason (Housing Lease Protection Act Art. 6-3(1)). This guide follows the Act as in force from January 2, 2026.

Item	Rule	Basis
When to request	From 6 months to 2 months before the lease ends	Art. 6-3(1), Art. 6(1)
How many times	Once	Art. 6-3(2)
Length of renewal	2 years	Art. 6-3(2)
Terms	Same as before; rent and deposit may change only within Art. 7 (5%)	Art. 6-3(3)

The Act does not say how the request must be made. Our view: because the timing is a legal requirement but the method is not, use something that leaves a dated record (text message, email or certified mail) so you can prove you asked within the window.

The nine reasons a landlord can refuse

No.	Ground for refusal (Art. 6-3(1) items)
1	The tenant has been in arrears with rent up to an amount equal to two months’ rent
2	The tenant rented the home by deception or other wrongful means
3	The parties agreed and the landlord gave the tenant substantial compensation
4	The tenant sublet all or part of the home without the landlord’s consent
5	The tenant damaged all or part of the home intentionally or through gross negligence
6	All or part of the home was destroyed so the lease cannot serve its purpose
7	The landlord needs the home back to demolish or rebuild it (only in three specific cases: a plan disclosed at signing, a safety risk, or demolition under other laws)
8	The landlord, or the landlord’s lineal ascendants or descendants (parents, children), intends to actually live there
9	Any other serious breach of the tenant’s duties or a serious reason that makes continuing the lease difficult

Item 1 is about the amount, not the count

Item 1 asks whether arrears ever reached two months’ worth of rent, not whether you were late twice. With ₩1 million rent, the question is whether unpaid rent ever reached ₩2 million. Because it refers to the fact of such arrears, reading it as applying even if you later paid it off is closer to the text.

If “I’m moving in” was not true

If the landlord refused under item 8 and then, without a legitimate reason, rents the home to a third party before the renewal period would have ended, the landlord must compensate the tenant (Art. 6-3(5)). Unless the parties agreed an amount in advance, the compensation is the largest of (Art. 6-3(6)):

Item	Amount
1	3 months of the converted monthly rent at the time of refusal
2	2 years of the difference between the converted monthly rent the landlord got from the new tenant and that at the time of refusal
3	The actual loss the tenant suffered from the refusal

“Converted monthly rent” (환산월차임) is the monthly rent plus the deposit converted to monthly rent at the lower of the two rates in Article 7-2.

Deposit to monthly rent calculator (conversion-rate cap)

How much can rent rise on renewal?

The renewed lease keeps the previous terms, and rent and deposit can be changed only within Article 7 (Art. 6-3(3)), which limits an increase request to one-twentieth (5%) of the agreed amount.

How much can rent go up? The 5% rule

Leaving a renewed lease early

A tenant can end a lease renewed through this right at any time; it ends 3 months after the landlord receives the notice (Art. 6-3(4), applying Art. 6-2). You do not have to stay the full 2 years.

Write a lease termination notice in Korean (fill in English)

Common questions

Q. What happens if nobody says anything before the lease ends?

A. The lease is treated as renewed on the same terms for 2 years (automatic renewal, Art. 6(1)–(2)), and your renewal request right remains unused for later.

Automatic lease renewal explained

Q. Can I use the right if I missed the 2-month mark?

A. The request must be made from 6 months to 2 months before the end date. After that window, the right cannot be used for this lease end, though automatic renewal may still apply if the landlord also gave no notice.