Jo Incheol: "Salary Reduction Payment for Impeached Public Officials"

Representative Proposal for the Amendment to the National Public Officials Act
"Promoting Normalization in Consideration of Public Legal Sentiment"

Jo Incheol, Member of the National Assembly.

A bill has been proposed to reduce the annual salary of public officials who have been suspended from duty due to impeachment proceedings, setting their pay at the median income level.

On the 15th, Representative Cho Incheol of the Democratic Party of Korea (Gwangju Seo-gu Gap) announced that he had proposed an amendment to the National Public Officials Act, which would reduce the salary of public officials suspended from duty by an impeachment resolution to the standard median income.

Currently, there are no clear regulations regarding the payment of salaries to public officials who have been suspended from duty due to an impeachment resolution. As a result, officials whose duties have been suspended continue to receive their full salary.

Recently, it was confirmed that President Yoon Suk-yeol (annual salary of about 260 million won) continued to receive his salary despite being suspended from duty following the passage of an impeachment motion. Previously, it was also revealed that Lee Jinsook, Chairperson of the Korea Communications Commission (annual salary of about 140 million won), received her full salary while suspended due to impeachment, sparking public outrage.

This has been criticized as highly unfair, especially when compared to the fact that ordinary public officials have their salaries reduced even for suspension as a disciplinary action.

Representative Cho emphasized, "It is irrational and goes against the public's sense of justice to pay hundreds of millions of won in salary to a president impeached for violating constitutional order," adding, "I will do my best to correct the abnormal salary system for public officials so that taxpayers' money is used fairly."