16 Million Won Higher Than Private Minimum Wage
Public Recruitment Competition Rate 93:1 in 2011 → 22:1 This Year
The average monthly salary of a newly appointed Grade 9 (Step 1) public official was found to be 160,000 won higher than the minimum wage in the private sector.
According to data from the National Public Officials Labor Union on the 6th, this year, a Grade 9 Step 1 official receives a base salary of 1,877,000 won per month, a position allowance of 175,000 won, a fixed meal allowance of 140,000 won, and a seniority allowance of 30,000 won, totaling 2,222,000 won before taxes. The actual take-home pay is less after taxes are deducted.
This amount is 161,260 won higher than the monthly wage of 2,060,740 won for private sector workers calculated based on this year's minimum hourly wage (9,860 won). Assuming next year's minimum wage increases by 5%, this gap narrows to 58,850 won. The hourly overtime pay rate for Grade 9 public officials, who can work up to 10 hours of overtime per month, is 9,414 won, which is lower than this year's minimum hourly wage.
Earlier this year, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced that the annual salary for Grade 9 Step 1 rose by more than 6% from last year to 30.1 million won (an average of 2.51 million won per month), surpassing 30 million won for the first time in history. This figure includes the maximum possible overtime pay and twice-yearly holiday bonuses that public officials can receive.
Although the government set the salary increase rate for Grade 9 Step 1 this year higher than the average increase rate for all public officials (2.5%), there are criticisms that the pay for lower-level public officials remains unreasonably low in this era of high inflation. The competition ratio for this year's Grade 9 open recruitment exam was 21.8 to 1, the lowest since 1992 (19.3 to 1). The competition ratio has been declining for eight consecutive years since 2016 (53.8 to 1).
Back in 2011, the competition ratio for the Grade 9 open recruitment exam was as high as 93.3 to 1, reflecting the high preference for public service jobs. However, due to salaries barely above the minimum wage and insufficient treatment, the preference for public officials, once considered a "cheolbap-tong" (iron rice bowl), has been steadily decreasing.
Lee Hae-jun, chairman of the Public Officials Labor Union, pointed out, "People often call public officials 'cheolbap-tong,' but that iron rice bowl has long been dented. Malicious complaints and excessive workload are problems, but the more fundamental issue is low wages."
The Public Officials Labor Union is demanding from the government a fixed monthly increase of 313,000 won in the basic salary for public officials, an increase in seniority allowances for lower-level officials, a monthly increase of 80,000 won in fixed meal allowances, and a monthly increase of 30,000 won in position allowances.
Chairman Lee explained, "The meal allowance public officials receive amounts to about 6,300 won per day, which is far below 10,000 won. To correct the drawbacks of the proportional pay system that causes wage gaps between high-ranking and lower-ranking officials and to guarantee the livelihood of lower-ranking officials, a fixed salary increase is necessary."
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