Seoul District Offices Begin 'Special Treatment' for High-Performing Public Officials

Dobong-gu Introduces Special Promotions, Inspired by 'Chungju Man' Kim Seontae
First-Ever Special Salary Increases in Dongjak, Yangcheon, and Yeongdeungpo
"Recognizing Contributions at Work, Leadership Commitment Is Key"

Promotion and salary increases are the most effective incentives for office workers. The same applies to public officials. An increasing number of Seoul autonomous districts are raising the seniority steps of outstanding public officials through special promotions and special salary increments as exceptional personnel benefits.

(Photo from left) Park Ilha, Mayor of Dongjak-gu; Oh Eun-seok, Mayor of Dobong-gu; Lee Ki-jae, Mayor of Yangcheon-gu; Choi Ho-kwon, Mayor of Yeongdeungpo-gu. Provided by each district office.

First, Dongjak-gu newly introduced a special salary increment system that grants a one-step seniority increase to public officials with outstanding work performance, applying it from this month. This is the first case since the opening of the Dongjak District Office. Two officials?a grade 6 team leader and a grade 7 public official?who made significant contributions to improving the local traffic system and advancing long-unresolved pending projects were selected as the first recipients.

Dongjak-gu plans to select employees with outstanding work performance among grade 6 or below public officials subject to the seniority system with at least one year of actual work experience twice a year, in the first and second halves of the year, starting this year. Grade 6 and below employees account for more than 90% of the total staff at the district office.

Yeongdeungpo-gu granted special salary increments to two high-performing public officials in the second half of last December. This was also the first time since the establishment of the Yeongdeungpo District Office. Yangcheon-gu raised the seniority step of a public official who received the Presidential Award for proposing and implementing a free shuttle bus service to facilitate the training camp entry of local reservists.

The ‘real breakthrough’ happened in Dobong-gu. In June last year, Oh Eun-seok, the mayor of Dobong-gu, held an active administration committee meeting and promoted Seong Hyang-sook, a grade 7 officer in the Child and Youth Division with outstanding work performance, to grade 6, surprising the public official community across Seoul’s district offices. This was the first special promotion case among more than 40,000 district office public officials in all 25 autonomous districts of Seoul.

Special promotion literally means raising the rank, while special salary increment means raising the seniority step of public officials under the seniority system by one level. Although it varies by job category, it generally takes more than 15 years to be promoted from grade 9 to grade 6 in the administrative job group. The higher the rank, the slower the promotion. It usually takes 3 years to move from grade 9 to 8, 4.5 years from grade 8 to 7, and especially nearly 9 years to be promoted from grade 7 to 6.

Although there are incentive or special salary increment regulations for actively performing public officials in organizations such as district offices, actual application has been rare. Unlike private companies, the public official community has a unique atmosphere where standing out is burdensome, procedures and grounds are scrutinized, and there is concern about gossip. However, this culture and perception are gradually changing, and with the will of local government heads, a new wave is spreading.

The trend of special promotions and salary increments is also spreading to local areas. A well-known case is Kim Seon-tae, a public official who operates the official YouTube channel ‘Chungtv’ of Chungju City. Promoted to grade 6 in January last year, Kim started as an administrative grade 9 and became a grade 6 public official in 8 years. Chungtv, a promotional channel that publicizes Chungju City with creative ideas, has nearly 770,000 subscribers (as of early January), almost four times the population of Chungju (about 200,000), and Kim has gained nationwide fame.

In Gimcheon City, Gyeongbuk Province, one public official who successfully organized a festival with the idea ‘Gimcheon is Gimbap Heaven’ was specially promoted to grade 7 at the end of last year, and two others received special salary increments.

A Seoul autonomous district official said, "Special promotions and special salary increments are significant in that they officially recognize work performance and enhance vitality and competitiveness in public service," adding, "I understand that more autonomous districts are considering their introduction."