South Korea's Government Is Paying You to Exercise — Up to $60 a Year

At the end of March 2026, South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is launching the TunTun Money (튼튼머니) dedicated mobile app, marking a pivotal moment in the country's rapidly expanding healthcare rewards ecosystem. What was previously a clunky web-based QR code system through the National Fitness 100 portal is being transformed into a sleek, all-in-one mobile platform for exercise verification, point management, facility discovery, and challenge participation.

This isn't just an app update — it's the government's boldest move yet to compete directly with private-sector reward apps like CashWalk and Toss Step Counter in the lucrative "app-tech" (앱테크) space. With annual rewards of up to 80,000 KRW (approximately $58 USD) per person, eligibility expanded to anyone aged 4 and above, and a network of roughly 4,000 registered sports facilities nationwide, TunTun Money is poised to reshape how Koreans think about fitness incentives.

What Is TunTun Money?

TunTun Money is a government-operated sports activity incentive program run under the National Fitness 100 (국민체력100) initiative. The concept is straightforward: visit registered sports facilities, exercise for at least 30 minutes, verify your activity via QR code, and earn points that can be converted into ZeroPay sports gift certificates and other rewards redeemable at sporting goods stores, pharmacies, hospitals, and health food outlets.

The program has been operating for several years through a web-based interface, but 2026 brings transformative changes. The participation age has been lowered from 11 to 4 years old, enabling family-wide participation. The earning period runs from February 23 to November 30, 2026, with point conversion available from March 31 to December 20, 2026. And most significantly, the launch of the dedicated app at the end of March will make the web-based system obsolete — all future earning will require the app.

How the Point System Works

Core Exercise Earning

The primary earning mechanism rewards 500 points per visit to a registered facility, with a minimum 30-minute exercise requirement. Users can earn once per day, up to 5 times per week, with an annual cap of 100 sessions. This pathway alone yields a maximum of 50,000 points (50,000 KRW / ~$36 USD) per year.

Fitness Assessment Bonuses

Visiting one of Korea's 75 National Fitness Certification Centers for physical fitness assessments provides additional earning opportunities. Simple fitness tests award 2,000 points each (up to 4 times annually), while comprehensive National Fitness 100 assessments offer 2,000 points each (up to 2 times). Combined with a one-time 1,000-point online coaching participation bonus, this pathway adds up to 12,000 points.

Special Points and Events

For 2026, the government has allocated additional incentives totaling up to 30,000 bonus points through achievement-based rewards for top participants, survey completion, and — critically — an app migration event tied to the March launch. Early adopters of the new app stand to benefit significantly from these limited-time promotions.

The theoretical maximum across all pathways: 80,000 points (80,000 KRW / ~$58 USD) per person, per year.

The March App Launch: What Changes

The TunTun Money app represents a fundamental shift in how the program operates. Previously, users needed to navigate the National Fitness 100 website to generate QR codes, then use the separate BizplayPay (비플페이) app for ZeroPay conversions — a fragmented experience that discouraged casual participation.

The new app consolidates everything into a single platform: exercise activity logging, nearby facility search (drawing from the 4,000+ registered locations), point conversion to various reward formats, and a new challenge/event system. The user experience upgrade alone could significantly boost participation rates.

However, there's an important caveat: after March 31, the web-based system will be discontinued entirely. Users who don't install the app will be unable to earn points. This mandatory digital transition could pose challenges for elderly participants and those with limited smartphone access, though it follows a broader trend in Korean government services toward mobile-first delivery.

Where to Spend TunTun Money

Earned points cannot be withdrawn as cash — they must be converted into designated formats. The primary conversion path is ZeroPay Sports Gift Certificates, redeemable at ZeroPay-affiliated sports facilities, sporting goods retailers, pharmacies, hospitals, and eco-friendly food stores nationwide. Points convert in 1,000-point increments, and converted gift certificates remain valid for 5 years from the date of issuance.

New for 2026, Samsung Life Insurance's "The Health" app now accepts TunTun Money conversions through its SleepMoney (슬리머니) feature, enabling users to purchase health products or apply points toward insurance premium payments. Additionally, participants under 14 years old can exchange points for culture gift certificates in 5,000-point increments — a thoughtful addition given the expanded age eligibility.

TunTun Money vs. CashWalk: Government vs. Private Rewards

The comparison with CashWalk, Korea's dominant private-sector health reward app, is inevitable. Operated by Nudge Healthcare, CashWalk boasts over 5.6 million daily active users and rewards walking with 1 cash per 100 steps, up to 100 cash (~100 KRW) per day, yielding roughly 36,500 KRW annually for consistent users.

TunTun Money's maximum of 80,000 KRW more than doubles CashWalk's annual ceiling. However, the comparison isn't entirely apples-to-apples. CashWalk passively tracks steps with virtually zero effort, while TunTun Money requires deliberate visits to registered facilities and a minimum 30-minute exercise commitment. CashWalk's points are immediately spendable within its marketplace, whereas TunTun Money requires a conversion step.

The smartest strategy is to use both simultaneously. CashWalk captures value from everyday walking, while TunTun Money rewards dedicated exercise sessions. A disciplined user running both programs could potentially earn over 116,000 KRW ($84 USD) annually just from staying active — a meaningful sum in Korea's cost-conscious app-tech culture.

The Bigger Picture: Korea's Healthcare Rewards Expansion

TunTun Money's app launch arrives amid a broader government push toward health incentivization. The Ministry of Health and Welfare's Healthy Living Incentive Program (건강생활 실천지원금제) is simultaneously expanding to over 50 regions in 2026, offering up to 120,000 KRW for preventive health activities (walking, weight management, blood pressure improvement) and up to 80,000 KRW for chronic disease management compliance.

The global digital healthcare market provides tailwind context: valued at approximately $491.6 billion in 2026, it's projected to grow at a 21.6% CAGR through 2034. Korea's reward-based health programs sit at the intersection of preventive healthcare policy and digital platform economics — a combination that positions TunTun Money as more than just a points program but as a pillar of national health strategy.

Combining TunTun Money with the Healthy Living Incentive Program, a Korean citizen could potentially earn over 200,000 KRW ($145 USD) annually from government health rewards alone — a figure that begins to rival some private reward app ecosystems.

Maximizing Your TunTun Money Returns

For those looking to extract maximum value, timing and consistency are everything. Install the app immediately upon its late-March release to capture migration event bonuses before the limited budget is exhausted. Commit to 5 exercise sessions per week at registered facilities to hit the 50,000-point annual cap. Don't overlook fitness assessments and online coaching participation for an easy additional 12,000 points.

The most critical rule: convert points before December 20. Because the program operates on annual government budgets, unconverted points expire at year-end. Converted ZeroPay gift certificates, however, remain valid for 5 years. The optimal approach is to convert points as soon as they accumulate rather than waiting until year-end, as program budgets can be exhausted early in high-participation years.

Conclusion

The TunTun Money app launch represents a significant maturation of Korea's government-led healthcare rewards infrastructure. With an annual benefit ceiling of 80,000 KRW, nationwide facility coverage, family-friendly age requirements starting at 4 years old, and expanding redemption partnerships with Samsung Life and ZeroPay, it offers arguably the most compelling value proposition in Korea's healthcare reward space. Combined with the parallel expansion of the Healthy Living Incentive Program, 2026 marks the year that "exercise equals money" shifts from marketing slogan to government policy reality. For anyone living in Korea — citizen or long-term resident — downloading the app on launch day is the single highest-ROI action in the health rewards category this year.