President's 2025 salary set at 262 million won, paid despite suspension
Published: 12 Jan. 2025, 16:59
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- LIM JEONG-WON
- [email protected]
![President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a public address on Dec. 14, 2024 after the impeachment motion against him was passed in the National Assembly the same day. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2025/01/12/4988848f-97fd-44a0-88cf-7d05842ff3d8.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol gives a public address on Dec. 14, 2024 after the impeachment motion against him was passed in the National Assembly the same day. [PRESIDENTIAL OFFICE]
Impeached President Yoon Suk Yeol’s annual salary for this year has been set at 262 million won ($177,730), receiving a monthly salary of approximately 22 million won before tax even while suspended from duty.
According to the Ministry of Personnel Management on Sunday, in accordance with the 2025 civil servant compensation and allowance regulations amendment approved by the ministry at a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 31 last year, Yoon’s annual salary was increased by 3 percent from the previous year, the same as the overall civil servant salary increase.
The civil servant salary system is largely divided into the grade system and the annual salary system. The president, the prime minister, deputy prime minister, chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection, ministers, vice ministers and other political civil servants of similar ranks are subject to a fixed annual salary according to their position.
Unlike general civil servants, it is extremely difficult to measure the performance of political civil servants, so a fixed annual salary system is applied, which sets uniform pay for each position by reflecting the annual civil servant raise rate. In contrast, general and functional civil servants often apply a grade-based salary system in which the salary varies by rank and grade.
The government previously froze the salaries of high-ranking civil servants, including political appointees, from 2018 to 2023. However, in order to enhance the vitality of the public service sector as a whole and to take inflation into account, the salaries of high-ranking civil servants, including the president, have been increased based on the overall civil servant salary increase rate since last year.
Accordingly, Yoon will receive an annual salary of 262 million won this year. It is estimated to be around 21.83 million won per month before tax and around 14.5 million won per month after tax. However, since the details of the president’s salary are not disclosed, there may be a difference from the actual amount paid.
The pay is not affected by the impeachment trial process and a suspension from duty. According to the Ministry of Personnel Management, the president’s basic courtesy is maintained even during the suspension period, so the salary is not withheld.
“In order to restrict the payment of the president’s salary, a separate legal basis is needed, but there is no basis for restriction under the current laws,” said an official from the ministry.
The same goes for Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, who is suspended from duty after the National Assembly passed an impeachment motion against him. He is still receiving his annual salary of 203.5 million won this year even after the suspension.
There are also calls for a revision of the National Civil Service Act, which stipulates that salaries should continue to be paid to civil servants suspended from duty.
In light of the dissent, Rep. Park Yong-kab of the Democratic Party (DP) proposed a revision to the National Civil Service Act that would withhold paychecks for civil servants who have been impeached. Rep. Yoon Joon-byeong of the same party also proposed a revision to the act that would reduce civil servant salaries by up to 50 percent in a similar situation.
Meanwhile, it was found on Sunday that former Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun applied for retirement benefits about a week after the Dec. 3 martial law incident.
DP Rep. Choo Mi-ae, a member of the National Assembly’s special committee to investigate the circumstances behind the martial law incident and allegations of insurrection, revealed this on the same day while disclosing documents submitted by the National Assembly Pension Service.
According to the documents, the service received a retirement benefit claim form from Kim by mail on Dec. 10., the day that he was arrested.
BY MOON HEE-CHUL, LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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