This Year, 17,665 Local Government Officials to Be Recruited... 8.2% Increase

505 Research and Guidance Positions... Up 35.4% from Last Year

This year, 17,665 new local government officials will be recruited, an 8.2% increase compared to last year.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 26th that, according to the 2025 local government new recruitment plans of 17 cities and provinces, a total of 17,665 local government officials will be newly hired. The scale of recruitment reflects the government's manpower efficiency policy and anticipated vacancies due to retirements and leaves of absence.

Yonhap News

The number of recruits planned for this year increased by 1,332, or about 8.2%, from 16,333 last year, with a significant rise especially in research and guidance positions. The number of recruits for research and guidance positions increased by 35.4%, from 316 last year to 505 this year.

By job category, among 17,646 general public officials, 563 will be recruited for grade 7 and above, and 14,426 for grades 8 and 9. Additionally, 505 research and guidance positions, 2,136 fixed-term positions, and 16 professional career positions will be filled. Furthermore, 13 special appointment officials and 6 specific appointment officials will also be recruited.

By city and province, 3,637 will be recruited in Gyeonggi, 2,382 in Seoul, 1,463 in Gyeongbuk, 1,436 in Chungnam, and 1,419 in Jeonnam, among others.

By job series, plans are to recruit 5,895 administrative positions, 2,609 facility positions, 964 social welfare positions, and 660 tax positions.

To realize social integration and secure diversity within public service, persons with disabilities and low-income groups will be recruited through separate selection. For persons with disabilities, 1,293 (7.4%) will be recruited in the grade 7 and 9 exams, exceeding the legally mandated employment rate of 3.8%. For low-income groups, 474 (3.4%) will be hired in the grade 9 exam, surpassing the legal employment rate of 2%.

To encourage early social entry for high school graduates (expected), recruitment will also be conducted for graduates (expected) of technical high schools. Graduates (expected) from specialized high schools and Meister high schools will be recruited for 288 positions through the grade 9 career competitive recruitment exam.

This year’s local government written exams, conducted simultaneously nationwide, will be held on June 21 for grades 8 and 9, and on November 1 for grade 7. Starting this year, the grade 8 and 9 open competitive exams will shift the focus of Korean and English subjects from knowledge memorization to reasoning and on-site job competency, resulting in an increase in exam time from 100 minutes to 110 minutes.

Kim Min-jae, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "As this year marks the 30th anniversary of elected local autonomy, it is important to strengthen regional administrative capabilities. We will do our best to support each local government in selecting competent talents that meet regional demands to enhance regional competitiveness."