How to Use the Kimchi Premium Calculator
The Kimchi premium is a real, widely used term in the global crypto industry for the price gap between Korean exchanges and overseas exchanges for the same coin. Enter a price quoted on a Korean exchange (already converted to your currency) and an overseas exchange price to instantly calculate the gap and the premium percentage.
The premium exists because South Korea's foreign exchange rules make it hard to move large sums freely between Korean and overseas markets for arbitrage. When Korean demand surges while that friction limits arbitrage, the domestic price can run noticeably higher than the global price. A negative reading, sometimes called a "reverse premium," means the Korean price sits below the global price instead.
The premium can swing significantly with market conditions, so both prices you enter should reflect the same moment in time to get an accurate reading. This is purely an informational metric describing a well-documented South Korean market phenomenon — it does not guarantee that the gap is actually capturable as profit.
Frequently Asked Questions
South Korea's foreign exchange rules make moving large sums in and out of the country for arbitrage difficult, which limits free price arbitrage between Korean and overseas exchanges. When domestic demand surges, this friction lets Korean prices run higher than global prices — a gap known as the Kimchi premium.
It means the Korean price is actually lower than the overseas price, sometimes called a 'reverse premium.' This can happen when domestic selling pressure is heavy or Korean sentiment is weaker than overseas sentiment.
In theory, yes, but in practice South Korea's foreign exchange laws restrict large personal transfers abroad, and moving coins between exchanges takes time and incurs fees — making it difficult for an average individual to capture the gap as real profit.