Local Government Officials' Salaries to Increase by 1.7% This Year... Approved by the State Council Meeting

Salaries for Political Appointees and Grade 4 or Higher Frozen
Relative Treatment of Lower-Ranked Staff Improved

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that the revision bills of the "Regulations on Local Government Officials' Salaries" and the "Regulations on Allowances for Local Government Officials" were approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 3rd, finalizing this year's local government officials' salary increase and treatment improvement measures.

First, local government officials' salaries will increase by 1.7%. However, considering the difficult domestic and international economic conditions, the salaries of political positions such as heads of local governments and officials at grade 4 (or equivalent) and above will be frozen.

Along with this, treatment for lower-level practical officials at grade 6 (or equivalent) and below, whose treatment levels are relatively low, will be improved through an increase in position allowance. Accordingly, the position allowance for officials at grade 6 and below will be raised by 10,000 to 20,000 KRW per month depending on the grade, and the allowance (important duty allowance) for those engaged in important duties can be paid more broadly.

For example, the position allowance for grade 6 will increase from 175,000 KRW per month to 185,000 KRW per month. The position allowance for grade 7 will rise from 165,000 KRW per month to 180,000 KRW per month, and for grades 8 and 9, it will increase from 155,000 KRW per month to 175,000 KRW per month. The lower the grade, the greater the increase in position allowance.

For those engaged in important duties, the payment scope of the allowance (important duty allowance) will also be expanded from 15% to 18% of the institution's staff quota. The expanded 3 percentage points will be applied to grade 6 and below (payment amount of 100,000 KRW per month).

Additionally, family allowances for children have been increased by 10,000 KRW per month to support the childcare of officials with minor children. Accordingly, for one child, the allowance will increase from 20,000 KRW per month to 30,000 KRW per month; for two children, from 60,000 KRW per month to 70,000 KRW per month; and for three or more children, from 100,000 KRW per month to 110,000 KRW per month.

Minister of the Interior and Safety, Sangmin Lee, stated, “Going forward, we will actively work with related ministries to improve the treatment of public officials to create an environment where practical officials can feel rewarded and devote themselves to public service.”

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration announced last August, when approving this year's budget, that public officials' wages would be increased by 1.7%. Subsequently, the government finalized a budget plan where salaries for vice-minister level and above would be reduced by 10%, salaries for grade 4 and above would be frozen, and salaries for grade 5 and below would be increased by 1.7%. Accordingly, the pre-tax salary of a grade 9 public official at step 1 this year will be 1,715,170 KRW, about 28,670 KRW higher than 1,686,500 KRW last year.

Looking at the public officials' wage increase rates over the past five years: ▲2018 was 2.6%, ▲2019 was 1.8%, ▲2020 was 2.8%, ▲2021 was 0.9%, ▲and 2022 remained at about 1.4%. The new government also set a policy to restrain public officials' wage increases at last year's National Fiscal Strategy Meeting. Typically, the wage increase rate for public officials is set lower than the recommendation by the Ministry of Personnel Management. Last year's recommendation was known to be between 1.7% and 2.3%.