The South Korean government has unveiled a sweeping set of personnel reforms aimed at strengthening competitiveness in the civil service, combining performance-based promotions with significant pay hikes for junior officials.
The Ministry of Personnel Management announced the reforms on Wednesday, marking the first anniversary of the current administration. At the core of the package is an overhaul of the personnel system centered on performance and expertise.
The most notable measure is an early promotion track to Grade 5. Under the existing system, Grade 6 officials took about nine years on average to be promoted to Grade 5. The new framework will allow promotion within one to two years for those who demonstrate outstanding performance. The government plans to select 100 high-performing Grade 6 officials this year and designate early promotion candidates through performance reviews, competency assessments and interviews.
The government will also expand cultivation of specialists in fields requiring high expertise. The "expert civil servant" track, which allows long-term service in areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), international trade and labor inspection, will be enlarged. More than 700 officials will be selected this year, with the program scheduled to grow to 1,200 by 2028. The specialist civil servant system will also be extended to lower ranks so that working-level officials can have their expertise recognized.
Easing Audit Burden, Scrapping Night Duty: Workplace Culture Overhaul
The government will also address concerns that civil servants hesitate to act decisively for fear of audits or lawsuits. When officials handle cases in line with the opinion of the Active Administration Committee, the immunity scope will be expanded to cover audits by the Board of Audit and Inspection. The litigation support cap has been raised to a maximum of 30 million won, and the limit on the number of liability insurance coverages has been removed.
The work environment is also being reformed. The state civil servant night-duty system, introduced in 1949, will undergo a sweeping overhaul for the first time in 76 years. Remote night duty will be expanded, and agencies operating 24-hour situation rooms will reduce separate night-duty shifts to ease unnecessary workloads. An AI-based civil complaint response system will also be introduced in phases.
Parental support will be strengthened as well. The age limit for children eligible under the parental leave system has been raised from 8 to 12, and a separate leave system has been established for fertility treatment. Labor Day and Constitution Day have been designated as public holidays and added to the list eligible for substitute holidays, reinforcing rest entitlements.
"Grade 9 Starting Pay to Reach 3 Million Won Next Year": Better Treatment for Junior Officials
The government is also tackling low pay, which has been cited as a key reason for the recent decline in interest in civil service careers. Civil servant salaries have been raised by 3.5 percent this year, with Grade 7 to Grade 9 entry-level officials receiving an additional increase on top of that. As a result, the average monthly pay for a Grade 9, Step 1 official has risen to about 2.86 million won this year.
The government has set a goal of raising the starting salary for Grade 9 officials to about 3 million won per month by next year. New heavy-workload allowances and long-service bonuses have been created for officials in disaster and safety fields, and field-duty allowances have been sharply raised. Hazardous-duty pay and dispatch bonuses for police officers and firefighters will also be increased.
"To win public trust, the most important task is creating conditions in which civil servants can work proactively," Minister of Personnel Management Choi Dong-seok said. "We will continue personnel innovation so that the organization becomes vibrant on the basis of performance and expertise."
