Allowances for civil servants working in disaster and safety departments are expected to rise from up to 200,000 won per month to 440,000 won per month. This is a follow-up measure to President Lee Jae-myung's remark in June that "although disaster and safety management departments are important, the culture of not properly recognizing them must change."
The "Plan to strengthen organizations and personnel in the disaster and safety sector," announced on the 17th by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Personnel Management, includes measures to expand incentives such as allowances, promotions, and awards for workers engaged in disaster and safety-related duties.
Previously, disaster and safety workers received a total of 80,000–200,000 won per month, including ▲ 80,000 won for the disaster and safety allowance and ▲ 120,000 won for the emergency duty allowance (8,000 won per day). This time, the government is pursuing measures to add ▲ 50,000 won in additional charge for heavy-work positions, ▲ 50,000 won in additional charge for long service for those who have worked two years or more, ▲ 80,000 won in specific task expenses for local governments, and to raise the emergency duty allowance to 180,000 won (16,000 won per day).
Under the improvement plan, disaster and safety workers will be able to receive 160,000–440,000 won per month in allowances. That is an increase of 80,000–240,000 won per month from the current level. An official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said the measure aims to resolve the difficulty of attracting top talent due to burdens of responsibility for disasters, frequent emergency duty, and other work conditions, as well as low evaluations of disaster work.
The total budget needed to raise these allowances is 11.1 billion won. The increased allowances are expected to apply to 4,202 people in central government ministries and 6,062 in local governments. An official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said that, in addition to the ministry, civil servants in departments related to disaster response—such as the flood response department at the Ministry of Environment and the landslide response department at the Korea Forest Service—will be included.
Those who work in disaster and safety management departments for two years or more will have their time-in-grade for promotion shortened by two years in local governments and by one year in central ministries. When experienced personnel are assigned as deputy heads of local governments or heads of disaster departments, additional points will be given in disaster management evaluations for local governments. This is intended to change the practice of assigning non-experts, first-time appointees, or those nearing honorary retirement to head local government disaster and safety departments.
Liability relief standards will also be eased. There is an "Active Administration Committee" that can recommend exoneration for active administration when a disaster or safety accident occurs and the civil servant has no intent or gross negligence. Until now, exemption from discipline for civil servants who took active measures in emergencies was possible only at the committee's "pre-judgment" stage, but the plan is to allow post-judgment as well to reduce excessive liability.
Local government disaster and safety organizations and personnel will also be reorganized. The government will recommend a reorganization model to local governments, such as placing the disaster and safety department as a senior division, and will reinforce staff at city, county, and district situation rooms so that all local governments can operate a 24-hour disaster situation management system. Currently, 25% (57) of the 228 cities, counties, and districts have no dedicated situation management personnel, and the duty officer handles it concurrently.
At the end of this month, the government will hold a meeting with central and local government disaster and safety civil servants to hear opinions on the plan and will follow up by revising relevant regulations by December.