Public Officials' Salaries to Rise 3.5% Next Year... New Allowances Introduced

Amendment Passes Cabinet Meeting

Next year, the overall salary for public officials will increase by 3.5%. The starting salary for entry-level public officials in grades 7 to 9 is expected to rise by up to 6.6% compared to this year.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management announced on December 30 that the amendment to the “Regulations on (Local) Public Official Remuneration and (Local) Public Official Allowances,” which includes improvements to the treatment of public officials next year, has passed the Cabinet meeting.

With this amendment, the salaries of national and local public officials will be raised by 3.5% compared to this year. The base salary for entry-level public officials with lower starting pay will increase by up to 6.6% for grade 9, step 1 (including a general increase of 3.5% plus an additional 3.1% increase). Reflecting these additional improvements, the starting annual pay (salary plus allowances) for grade 9 public officials in 2026 will reach 34.28 million won (an average of 2.86 million won per month), which is an increase of 170,000 won per month and 2.05 million won per year compared to 2025 (32.22 million won per year).

Additional and expanded items have also been introduced to boost the morale of working-level public officials and to enhance compensation for heavy workloads. A new longevity and heavy workload bonus (50,000 won per month) will be provided to public officials in charge of disaster response and civil complaints, and the emergency duty allowance will be raised from the current 8,000 won per day to 16,000 won per day (180,000 won per month). The risk duty allowance for police and fire officials will also increase from 70,000 won to 80,000 won per month. For police officers directly handling crowd accidents and firefighters responsible for operating emergency response control teams during various disasters, a new special duty allowance will be introduced (80,000 won per month). The medical duty allowance for pharmacists and nurses in charge of public medical services will also double.

In addition, the meal allowance, previously set at 140,000 won per month, will be increased to 160,000 won. The work substitution allowance, which was previously applied only to certain types of leave such as parental leave, will be expanded to cover all types of leave.