The Korean Teachers and Education Workers' Union, known as the KTU, and the Teachers' Union Federation urged the government Thursday to raise teacher pay by 7.1 percent and increase a teaching allowance that has been frozen for 26 years.
The two groups also called for the creation of a grade supplement for rank-and-file teachers — a benefit currently denied to them but available to other civil servants — and for legislation guaranteeing teacher union representation on the civil servant pay committee.
The KTU and the Teachers' Union Federation made the demands at a joint press conference Thursday morning in front of Government Complex Seoul. "Despite sharp price increases and sweeping changes to the educational environment in recent years, teacher compensation has in effect remained frozen or come close to being cut," they said.
The two groups said the government should raise civil servant and teacher wages by 7.1 percent for 2027. They said that figure represents the minimum needed to recover lost real wages, citing the Bank of Korea and the Ministry of Economy and Finance's outlooks for next year's economic growth and inflation.
"Civil servant pay currently stands at 83.9 percent of wages at private-sector workplaces with 100 or more employees," they said, adding that additional increases would be needed to close that gap over five years. They also noted that civil servant personnel costs had fallen from 7.9 percent of total government expenditure in 2019 to 6.9 percent in 2025, arguing the government had been suppressing labor costs.
The groups urged an increase in the teaching allowance, which has been fixed at 250,000 won ($169) a month since 2000 — a freeze now entering its 26th year. Taking into account consumer price increases over that period, they said the allowance should be raised from 250,000 won to 550,000 won a month.
They also called for the creation of a grade supplement for ordinary classroom teachers. The supplement is paid based on the difficulty and level of responsibility of a position. It is currently available to principals, vice principals and education specialists, but not to rank-and-file teachers.
"Police and fire department personnel receive a grade supplement on top of their own job-specific allowances, and even within the teaching profession, principals, vice principals and education specialists receive it," the groups said. "Excluding only classroom teachers is inequitable."
The two organizations also called on the government to establish a legal basis for teacher union representatives to formally participate in civil servant pay committee deliberations. They said that while teachers make up a significant share of all civil servants, no mechanism exists for teacher unions to participate directly in the committee that sets civil servant compensation.
"There is a limit to how long teachers can sustain themselves on a sense of mission alone," the groups said. "The government must respond responsibly to our demands: a 7.1 percent wage increase for 2027, a realistic teaching allowance, a grade supplement for classroom teachers, and legislation to include teacher representatives on the civil servant pay committee."
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