Starting Salary for Entry-Level Public Officials in Grades 7 to 9 to Increase by 6.6%
Allowance Hikes for Disaster, Safety, Police, and Firefighters Working Under Challenging Conditions
Next year, the overall salary for public officials will increase by 3.5% compared to the previous year. The starting salary for entry-level public officials in grades 7 to 9 will be raised by 6.6%, and improvements will also be made to the working conditions of frontline public officials responsible for disaster response, safety, and civil affairs.
On December 30, the Ministry of Personnel Management announced that the amendments to the "Regulations on Public Officials’ Remuneration" and the "Regulations on Allowances for Public Officials," which include measures to improve the treatment of public officials next year, have been passed by the Cabinet. The amendments will take effect from January 1, 2026.
The amendments stipulate a 3.5% increase in public officials’ salaries and further improvements to the working conditions of entry-level officials. The starting salary for grades 7 to 9 will be raised by an additional 3.1% on top of the general 3.5% increase, resulting in a total increase of 6.6% compared to the previous year. In addition to entry-level public officials in grades 7 to 9, the salaries of junior military officers (second lieutenant, first lieutenant, sergeant, and staff sergeant) will also be increased. Furthermore, the overtime pay rate will be gradually raised for grade 8 officials, following last year’s increase for grade 9 officials, to ensure fair compensation for work performed. Reflecting these additional improvements, the starting annual compensation (salary plus allowances) for a grade 9 official in 2026 will be 34.28 million won (an average of 2.86 million won per month), which is an increase of 1.7 million won per month and 2.05 million won per year compared to 2025 (32.22 million won per year).
Working conditions will also be improved for frontline public officials who work in challenging environments, such as those responsible for disaster and safety management, police, and firefighters. For public officials in charge of disaster and safety management, a new overtime and long-service bonus (50,000 won per month each) will be added to the disaster safety allowance, taking into account the difficulty of the work and the length of service in the same position (two years or more). In addition, the risk duty allowance for police and firefighters will be raised from 70,000 won to 80,000 won per month, and a new special duty allowance (80,000 won per month) will be introduced for police officers handling crowd control and firefighters responsible for operating emergency response teams during disasters.
Furthermore, the daily cap for the Police Agency’s 112 emergency dispatch allowance and the Fire Agency’s firefighting and rescue dispatch bonus will be increased from 30,000 won to 40,000 won. In particular, the emergency duty allowance paid for work at disaster sites will be significantly increased from 8,000 won to 16,000 won, with the monthly cap raised from 120,000 won to 180,000 won, ensuring appropriate compensation for the hard work of frontline staff.
As a follow-up measure to the "Plan to Revitalize the Public Sector," the treatment of civil affairs officials will be improved, and rewards for outstanding performers will be expanded. In line with the administrative environment, where most civil affairs are now handled electronically, the eligibility for the civil affairs work allowance will be expanded from those working in civil affairs offices to include those handling non-face-to-face and online civil affairs (30,000 won per month), and the allowance for civil affairs office staff will be increased from 50,000 won to 70,000 won per month. The eligibility for the special performance bonus, which provides an additional 50% of the highest performance bonus or performance-based salary to public officials with outstanding work or performance, will be expanded from the top 2% to the top 5%, further increasing opportunities for performance-based rewards.
Compensation for public officials in charge of important duties and those in specialized fields will also be expanded, strengthening a job-centered pay system. The scope of the important duty allowance, paid to those engaged in core duties with high importance and difficulty, will be expanded from 24% to 27% of an organization’s personnel. In particular, military personnel, who were previously unable to receive both the important duty allowance and the risk or special area duty allowance, will now be eligible to receive the important duty allowance as well.
In addition, the medical duty allowance for pharmacists and nurses responsible for public medical services will be doubled from 70,000 won to 140,000 won per month and from 50,000 won to 100,000 won per month, respectively. For air traffic controllers responsible for aviation safety, a new overtime bonus (100,000 won per month) will be added to the air traffic control duty allowance, ensuring comprehensive compensation for specialized and professional fields. Furthermore, the fixed meal allowance, which had been frozen since 2020, will be adjusted from 140,000 won to 160,000 won per month, and the eligibility for the acting duty allowance, previously limited to certain types of leave, will be expanded to all types of leave to ensure fairness among acting officials. The cap for the reduced working hours allowance for childcare will also be raised to match the private sector, further supporting work-life balance for public officials.
Choi Dongseok, Minister of Personnel Management, stated, "We will continue to work closely with fiscal authorities to steadily improve the treatment of entry-level and frontline public officials, while also expanding rewards for job performance and achievements. We will strive to create a working environment where public officials can work creatively and proactively for the people."
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