Next Year, 16,140 National Public Officials to Be Recruited... Expansion in Life and Safety Service Sectors

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[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The government has decided to recruit a total of 8,345 public officials next year, including 3,393 police and maritime police officers, 3,613 national and public school teachers, and 1,339 public officials in life and safety sectors.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 1st that this plan to recruit 16,140 national public officials in 2021 has been finalized as a government proposal.

By institution, 8,345 personnel will be added to central government ministries, 113 to constitutional institutions, and 7,682 to military organizations. In particular, more public officials will be added in areas closely related to citizens' lives, such as police services that have not sufficiently met public demand, public safety and health, strengthening economic policies, supporting job creation, and improving services.

Looking at the details, the police will recruit a total of 2,785 personnel, including 1,650 replacement personnel due to the abolition of the conscripted police, 144 investigative personnel for drug crimes and scientific investigations, 206 personnel for protecting socially vulnerable groups such as personal information registration and victim protection, and 488 patrol personnel for neighborhood police stations and substations to provide community-based security services.

The maritime police will also recruit a total of 608 personnel, including 64 maritime security and safety personnel mainly for ship maintenance and water leisure safety management, 154 replacements for conscripted police, 324 personnel for shift system improvements such as marine pollution control and maritime traffic control, and 59 personnel for operating facilities and equipment such as replacement construction ships.

For teachers, new personnel will be recruited mainly in early childhood, special education, and extracurricular fields. In line with raising the proportion of children in national and public kindergartens to 40%, 728 kindergarten teachers will be recruited; 1,214 special education teachers will be added due to the establishment of 8 new special schools and the expansion of 678 special classes; and 963 health and nutrition teachers, who are currently insufficient compared to legal standards due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, will also be recruited. However, the number of public school subject teachers in elementary and secondary schools will be reduced by 229 in accordance with the mid- to long-term teacher supply and demand plan reflecting the declining school-age population.

To strengthen public safety, 188 personnel for probation electronic monitoring and control, 31 for railway and aviation safety, 26 for customs inspection and surveillance, and 21 for labor supervision will also be recruited.

To support job creation, 53 personnel will be added to employment stability projects, 51 to workplace maternity protection, and 30 to vocational training. To strengthen economic policy functions, 59 personnel will be recruited to respond to malicious tax delinquents, 40 to enhance transparency of public interest corporations, and 13 to analyze real estate transaction tax evasion. Additionally, to respond to the decrease in active personnel, 7,682 military civilian employees and non-commissioned officers will be recruited, and 113 public officials will be added to constitutional institutions such as the Supreme Court, Constitutional Court, and Central Election Commission.

Local government officials' recruitment scale will be finalized by the end of the year after consultation with local governments, with a focus on recruiting firefighters working in poor conditions and social welfare public officials to cope with the rapid increase in welfare demand. The scale of national public official recruitment will be finally confirmed after deliberation by the National Assembly.

Jo So-yeon, Director of Organization Policy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "The calculation of next year's public official recruitment scale prioritized reallocating existing personnel to improve efficiency, and the recruitment scale was decided through strict screening only for areas lacking personnel," adding, "We will thoroughly manage performance to ensure that the quality of public services improves with the recruitment."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.