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Korea weighs ending 76-year-old mandate that civil servants obey superiors

Published: 25 Nov. 2025, 16:12 Updated: 25 Nov. 2025, 18:47

Park Yong-su, vice minister of the Ministry of Personnel Management, briefs reporters on a proposed amendment to the State Public Officials Act at the government complex in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Nov. 25. [NEWS1]

Korea is preparing to dismantle a decades-old rule that has required civil servants to unconditionally obey orders from their superiors, a reform accelerated by last year’s short-lived declaration of emergency martial law that exposed gaps in protections for workers who faced potentially unlawful commands.

The Ministry of Personnel Management said Tuesday it opened a proposed amendment to the State Public Officials Act for public comment. The revision would eliminate Article 57, which states that civil servants must obey job-related instructions from superiors, and replace it with provisions outlining the duties of command and supervision.

The new language would allow employees to raise objections and refuse an order if they judge it to be illegal. It would also bar disciplinary action against workers who decline to follow such orders.

Officials said the ministry relied on Germany’s Federal Civil Service Act as a model. German law gives public officials a formal process to question a superior’s directive and challenge its legality.

The duty to obey has been in place since 1948, when Korea enacted its foundational civil service law. Calls to revise it grew after former President Yoon Suk Yeol's short-lived martial law imposition on Dec. 3 last year, when critics argued that police officers, soldiers and civil servants had no clear legal protection if they encountered unlawful commands in the field.

Commuters watch news coverage at Seoul Station on the night of Dec. 3, 2024, after then-President Yoon Suk Yeol declared martial law in a national address. [NEWS1]

The amendment is expected to reach the National Assembly by the end of next month, but its implementation timeline remains uncertain because lawmakers must review and vote on the bill.

The proposal has already stirred debate inside government agencies about what would constitute an unlawful directive and how far the new protections would extend.

The proposed amendment also broadens access to parental leave. It raises the eligible age of a child from 8 to 12, expanding the benefit from families with second-graders to those with children up to sixth grade. Officials said the earlier limit failed to reflect the actual demands of child care and left many parents without adequate support.

The plan also introduces a new category of leave for fertility treatment. Civil servants had been required to use sick leave for procedures related to infertility, but the revision would allow them to apply for a dedicated fertility treatment leave. Appointing authorities would be expected to grant such requests unless there are exceptional circumstances.

The bill would also strengthen disciplinary rules. The statute of limitations for administrative penalties in cases involving stalking or the distribution of illicit images would extend from three years to 10. Victims would gain the right to receive notification of disciplinary outcomes involving accused officials, a change intended to address longstanding concerns about transparency in such cases.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM MIN-WOOK [[email protected]]