South Korean government covers 8.4% of firefighters’ salaries — Korea Herald

In South Korea, the central government in 2026 covers only 8.4% of firefighter salary expenses, while the remaining 91.6% is financed by local authorities. The Korea Herald reported this, citing data from Gyeonggi Province.

Fire service expenditures

The combined budget of fire departments in the country’s 17 provinces and metropolitan cities amounts to 8.6 trillion won this year, or about $6.4 billion. Local budgets provide 7.67 trillion won, equal to 89.3% of the total, while the central government’s contribution amounts to 923.9 billion won, or 10.7%.

A total of 6.51 trillion won is allocated for firefighters’ salaries. The central government allocates 549.6 billion won for this through fire safety subsidies. The main financial burden therefore remains with local authorities.

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Civil servant status and funding

The unified status of firefighters as national civil servants took effect in April 2020. At the time, the government said the change would reduce regional disparities in fire service operations and improve working conditions for their personnel.

At the same time, local authorities retained primary responsibility for organizing fire service operations, personnel management and budgets. The Local Autonomy Act also assigns local authorities responsibility for fire prevention, response and investigation, as well as rescue and emergency medical services.

The central government’s share in fire service funding rose from about 7% in 2019 to 11.5% in 2020 and reached 14.9% in 2021. It then stood at 12.3% in 2022, 12.4% in 2023, 10.1% in 2024, 11.5% in 2025 and 10.7% this year. An analysis by the Korean Association for Policy Studies, published in March 2025, classified 43% of firefighters’ duties as national, 23% as shared responsibilities of central and local authorities, and 34% as local.