276 Public Institutions Fail to Meet Mandatory Employment Rate for People with Disabilities

253 Billion Won in Fines Last Year... KEPCO 1.16 Billion, Chonnam National University Hospital 991 Million
Seo Mi-Hwa: "System Overhaul Needed to Ensure Effectiveness"

Mi-Hwa Seo, member of the Democratic Party of Korea.

It has been confirmed that last year, public institutions paid a total of 25.38 billion won in fines for failing to meet the mandatory employment rate for people with disabilities.

According to data submitted by Mi-Hwa Seo, a proportional representative of the Democratic Party of Korea, from the Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities on September 18, 2025, 276 out of 779 public institutions in 2024 were fined for not complying with the mandatory employment rate for people with disabilities, which is set at 3.8%.

The mandatory employment rate for people with disabilities is a system under the Act on the Employment Promotion and Vocational Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities, which requires employers of a certain size, including the state, local governments, public institutions, and private companies, to hire a certain percentage of employees with disabilities. If this requirement is not met, a fine is imposed in proportion to the number of unfilled positions.

The institution that paid the highest fine was Seoul National University Hospital, with 2.054 billion won. This was followed by the Agency for Defense Development with 1.465 billion won, Korea Electric Power Corporation with 1.165 billion won, Chonnam National University Hospital with 991 million won, Korea Institute of Radiological & Medical Sciences with 957 million won, and Korea Development Bank with 941 million won.

Looking at the annual fines paid: in 2022, 327 institutions paid a total of 34.88 billion won; in 2023, 299 institutions paid 27.997 billion won; and in 2024, 276 institutions paid 25.38 billion won. While the trend is decreasing, hundreds of billions of won in fines are still being paid each year.

Notably, among public institutions under the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is responsible for disability policy, nine institutions paid fines, including the National Medical Center (290 million won), National Cancer Center (110 million won), and Korean Red Cross (84 million won). In addition, the Human Resources Development Service of Korea under the Ministry of Employment and Labor paid 78 million won in fines.

On the other hand, institutions with high employment rates for people with disabilities included the Korea Copyright Protection Agency (44.4%), Korea Paralympic Committee (17.3%), Korea Expressway Corporation Service (16.9%), National Bioethics Policy Institute (12.8%), and Korea Employment Agency for Persons with Disabilities (11.2%).

Seo emphasized, "To ensure the effectiveness of the mandatory employment system for people with disabilities, it is necessary to overhaul the system, including raising the base amount for fines. Simply paying fines to avoid compliance will not lead to a substantial increase in employment for people with disabilities."

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