9th Grade Civil Servant Salary Rises by 160,000 Won... "Still Struggling to Pay Monthly Rent"

Lower-than-Expected Salary and Treatment
Number of Civil Service Exam Candidates Drops 29% in One Year

Kim (26), a level 9 public official, decided to change jobs. After deducting monthly rent and living expenses from his salary of less than 2 million won, nothing remains. Kim sighed, saying, “The wage gap with friends working in private companies is too large,” and “I can't see a future like this.”

The 'Goshichon' in Sillim-dong, Seoul, has seen a decrease in the number of exam candidates following the abolition of the judicial examination, but civil service, police, and company job applicants still live there nurturing their dreams. The old Gosiwon have been rebuilt into studio apartment buildings, filling the streets. Photo by Heo Young-han

Recently, among job seekers, the popularity of public officials has sharply declined due to poor salaries and treatment. Now, avoidance phenomena are appearing, leading to calls for urgent improvements in working conditions.

According to Statistics Korea's “Status of Youth Employment Exam Preparation” on the 24th, the number of candidates preparing for general public official exams decreased from 186,000 in May last year to 131,000 in May this year.

Job seeker Lee Siyun (27) said, “Prices are rising steeply, but the salary increase rate for public officials is minimal, so it no longer seems like a stable job,” adding, “It's hard to find people around me preparing for public official exams.” College student Jung (26) gave up after preparing for the public official exam for two years. Jung lamented, “People who were preparing for the exam with me are leaving one by one,” and “With the time and effort spent studying, it seems better to prepare for large corporations or professional jobs.”

The Public Officials Salary Committee proposed on the 22nd a salary increase for next year of 2.5% for level 5 and above, and 3.3% for level 6 and below. For level 9 public officials, they suggested a plan to raise monthly pay by more than 160,000 won, including wage increases and various allowances.

Lee Byunghun, emeritus professor of sociology at Chung-Ang University, diagnosed, “Young generations nowadays value sufficient economic compensation for their work. In a situation where the minimum wage keeps rising, public officials have become known as low-wage workers and thus undesirable jobs,” adding, “Considering the decline in popularity of public official exams and the increasing resignation rates among employees with less than five years of service, this issue requires review at the level of the Ministry of Personnel Management or the Presidential Office.”