This jeonse to monthly rent conversion calculator turns a Korean jeonse deposit into wolse monthly rent using the conversion rate (jeonse-wolse jeonhwan-yul). Enter your jeonse deposit, how much deposit you want to keep (for banjeonse, the half-deposit hybrid), and the conversion rate, and the tool instantly shows your monthly rent, annual rent, and the effective conversion rate. There is a reverse mode to back out the implied rate from a monthly rent, plus a 2-year cost comparison that includes the opportunity cost of locking up a deposit. If you have ever stared at a Korean listing wondering how the deposit and monthly figure relate, this jeonse wolse calculator is built exactly for you.
Use the convert jeonse deposit to monthly rent tool below, then read how the rate works, the legal cap, and a fully worked example.
The math behind every korea rent conversion rate calculator is simple once you see it. Only the part of the deposit you are not keeping gets converted to rent:
In reverse, if you already know the monthly rent and the deposit, the implied rate = (monthly rent × 12) ÷ convertible amount × 100. That single number lets you compare any two listings on equal footing and check them against the legal cap.
The conversion rate (jeonhwan-yul) is the annual percentage a landlord uses to translate deposit into rent. In 2026 it commonly sits around 5% to 6% in Seoul, varying by district, building age, and demand. It is not arbitrary: the Housing Lease Protection Act caps it at the lower of a fixed statutory ceiling or the Bank of Korea base rate plus 2 percentage points. So when the base rate moves, the legal maximum conversion rate moves with it. A rate above that cap is unlawful, which is why the reverse mode above is so useful for tenants.
Say your jeonse is 300,000,000 KRW and you want to keep 100,000,000 KRW as a deposit (a banjeonse arrangement), converting the remaining 200,000,000 KRW at a 5.5% rate:
So you would pay roughly 917,000 won per month plus keep a 100,000,000 KRW deposit. Convert the full 300,000,000 KRW instead and the monthly rent rises to about 1,375,000 KRW.
Korea's three rental structures trade off a big deposit against monthly cash:
| Structure | Deposit | Monthly rent | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jeonse (전세) | Very large (often 50–80% of property value) | None | Tenants with capital who want zero rent |
| Wolse (월세) | Small | Yes — meaningful | Tenants short on lump-sum cash |
| Banjeonse (반전세) | Medium | Some | Tenants splitting the difference |
The conversion rate is the bridge between them — it is literally the price the landlord charges to swap deposit you do not pay for rent you do.
A jeonse looks "free" because there is no monthly rent, but tying up 300 million won has a real cost: the return you forgo by not investing or saving that money. That is the opportunity cost the calculator includes. If you could earn 3.5% on the deposit, two years of full jeonse costs you 300,000,000 × 3.5% × 2 = 21,000,000 KRW in forgone returns, while a wolse with a smaller deposit costs rent plus the smaller opportunity cost. Whether jeonse or wolse is cheaper depends entirely on the gap between the conversion rate and your opportunity rate: if you can earn more than the conversion rate, wolse tends to win; if not, jeonse does.
This is the single insight that decides the whole question. If the landlord's conversion rate (say 5.5%) is higher than what you can safely earn on the money (say 3.5% in a deposit account), then converting deposit into rent is expensive for you — keep more deposit (lean jeonse). If you can earn more than the conversion rate — for instance because you would otherwise carry expensive debt, or have a higher-yielding use for the cash — then paying rent and freeing the deposit is the better deal. The calculator's 2-year comparison makes this trade explicit so you are not guessing.
Across Korea the market has shifted toward wolse and banjeonse, especially when interest rates make a giant deposit less attractive for landlords to redeploy. From the landlord's side, monthly rent is steady income; from the tenant's side, it spares them from raising a huge lump sum (or a risky jeonse loan). Understanding the conversion rate lets you negotiate: every percentage point off the rate directly lowers your monthly rent for the same deposit.
Whatever structure you choose, protect the deposit. Register your lease and get a fixed date stamp (hwakjeong-ilja) at the district office to secure priority, check the property's registry (deungbu-deungbon) for existing mortgages, and consider deposit-guarantee insurance through HUG or HF. A larger deposit (jeonse or banjeonse) means more at risk if the landlord defaults, so the safety steps matter more the bigger your deposit. This calculator handles the money math; the legal protection is a separate, essential step.
Because the legal cap is tied to the Bank of Korea base rate plus 2 percentage points, the conversion rate is fundamentally an interest-rate story. When the base rate rises, the legal ceiling rises and landlords can charge more monthly rent for the same converted deposit; when it falls, the ceiling drops. This is why the same apartment can convert at 4.5% in a low-rate year and 6% after rate hikes. For tenants, it means timing and negotiation matter: in a falling-rate environment, push for a conversion rate near the lower market level, and always check that the rate a landlord quotes still sits under the current cap, which itself moves with monetary policy.
Suppose a 300,000,000 KRW jeonse is available, and the same flat is offered at a 100,000,000 KRW deposit plus monthly rent. Three routes exist: (1) full jeonse funded from savings — no rent, but your whole 300M is tied up; (2) wolse/banjeonse — keep more cash but pay ~917,000 KRW/month at a 5.5% conversion rate; (3) jeonse loan — borrow most of the 300M and pay loan interest, often below the 5.5% conversion rate. Route 3 frequently wins because bank loan rates tend to undercut the landlord's conversion rate, and you still recover the full deposit. Model routes 1 and 2 here, and check route 3 against our jeonse-loan guide.
The conversion rate is negotiable within the legal cap, and small movements have a big monthly impact. On a 200,000,000 KRW converted amount, dropping the rate from 5.5% to 5.0% cuts annual rent from 11,000,000 to 10,000,000 KRW — about 83,000 KRW off every month. Landlords in a soft rental market, or who want to keep a reliable tenant, will often shave the rate. Use the reverse mode to show a landlord exactly what implied rate their asking rent represents; framing it as "your rent implies a 6.2% rate, above the typical 5.5%" is a concrete, fact-based way to negotiate down.
The jeonse to monthly rent conversion calculator takes the part of your jeonse deposit you want to convert (the full deposit minus any deposit you keep), multiplies it by the annual conversion rate, and divides by 12 to give the monthly rent. For example, converting 200 million won at a 5.5% conversion rate gives about 916,667 won per month.
The conversion rate (jeonse-wolse jeonhwan-yul) used to turn deposit into monthly rent is commonly around 5 to 6 percent per year in 2026, and is legally capped at the Bank of Korea base rate plus 2 percentage points (or a statutory ceiling, whichever is lower). The exact market rate varies by district and building.
Banjeonse is a hybrid where you keep a large deposit but also pay some monthly rent. You only convert the portion of the deposit you are not keeping. In the calculator, set the deposit you want to keep so it converts only the difference into monthly rent.
Use the reverse mode: implied conversion rate = (monthly rent x 12) divided by the converted deposit amount, times 100. This tells you what annual rate a landlord is effectively charging, so you can compare it to the legal cap and to other listings.
It depends on what you could earn on the deposit. Wolse costs you monthly rent but frees up the deposit difference; jeonse ties up a large sum but you pay little or no monthly rent. The calculator compares 2-year total cost including the opportunity cost of the deposit so you can see which is cheaper for your situation.
Yes. Under the Housing Lease Protection Act, when converting a deposit to monthly rent the rate cannot exceed the lower of a fixed statutory percentage or the Bank of Korea base rate plus a set margin (currently 2 percentage points). Landlords applying a higher rate than the cap are exceeding the legal limit.
A lower conversion rate means less monthly rent for the same converted deposit, so it benefits the tenant. A higher rate produces higher monthly rent, benefiting the landlord. That is why the law caps the rate and why comparing the implied rate across listings matters.