Why check both service credit and cheongwon-police pay?
This calculator concerns Korea’s appointed cheongwon police under the Cheongwon Police Act, using 2026 Korean rules and Korean won (KRW).
It helps a newly appointed worker or an existing worker who discovers missing service credit compare a standard salary step with actual basic pay and prepare an employer review request.
Military service, ordinary guard work and service as cheongwon police are different categories and must be entered accordingly.
A single salary figure found in a search cannot identify the correct workplace table or service band.
National and local government placements use the Enforcement Decree annex; other workplaces use the police notice minimum.
Results are conditional reference calculations and do not replace a formal salary-step decision or determine a recoverable wage claim.
The 2026 rule set and workplace categories
National / local government
Act Article 6(2), Decree Article 9 and annex 1 determine the applicable salary.
The current Decree version took effect May 19, 2026; the service band means time working as cheongwon police.
The ordinary public-official salary table is not substituted for this annex.
Other workplaces
Decree Article 10 and Police Notice No. 2026-5 provide the minimum reference.
The notice was issued and took effect May 22, 2026; its supplementary provisions apply it to remuneration paid from January 1, 2026.
A corporation, hospital or school name alone does not establish government placement.
What the four service inputs mean
- Cheongwon-police service: Total documented, creditable complete months, including current service. This input also selects the government service band.
- Military / conscripted police: Documented complete months eligible for credit. Do not enter them again as cheongwon-police service.
- Similar work for the same appointing employer: Qualifying watchman, guard or similar work before appointment by the relevant workplace’s appointing employer. Ordinary guard work elsewhere is not automatically included.
- Other full-time government service: Added only for a national or local government placement. Remove any months already entered in the preceding categories.
Decree Article 11(1) addresses service credit where employment rules contain no special provision.
The standard illustration adds the confirmed complete months; it does not invent a conversion percentage or import a different civil-service conversion table.
Have the employer verify part-time credit, leave or other excluded periods, treatment of days and the validity of special provisions before relying on a result.
Salary step and government service band are separate
Credited months = police + military + qualifying same-employer work + eligible government service
Standard step = min(31, 1 + floor(credited months ÷ 12))
Remaining months = credited months % 12
Public Officials Remuneration Regulation Article 13 uses a normal one-year increment period, applied through the reference structure in Decree Article 11(2)–(3).
Other workplaces may have their own increment period or amount under employment rules; a special or unknown rule therefore withholds the actual shortfall assessment.
The formal increment date, including the monthly first-day rule and restrictions, must be verified separately; this tool does not generate an appointment calendar.
Under 15 years: constable reference
15 to under 23 years: corporal reference
23 to under 30 years: sergeant reference
30 years or more: inspector reference
With 240 military months and zero cheongwon-police months, the standard step is 21 while the government band remains under 15 years.
Using the corporal column merely because combined experience exceeds 15 years would overstate the reference pay.
The next-band output assumes continued credited cheongwon-police service and freezes the 2026 table; it does not guarantee future pay or an increment date.
The full 2026 salary table, steps 1–31
The first amount column is shared by government placements with under 15 years of cheongwon-police service and the other-workplace notice minimum.
The remaining three columns apply to national / local government placements only.
Amounts are monthly KRW; scroll horizontally to reach the final column. A dash preserves an absent cell in the official table.
2026 monthly KRW salaries by step and cheongwon-police service band| Step | <15 years / other | 15–<23 years | 23–<30 years | 30+ years |
|---|
| 1 | 2,133,000 | — | — | — |
| 2 | 2,155,600 | — | — | — |
| 3 | 2,187,500 | — | — | — |
| 4 | 2,229,200 | — | — | — |
| 5 | 2,281,100 | — | — | — |
| 6 | 2,343,900 | — | — | — |
| 7 | 2,418,400 | — | — | — |
| 8 | 2,505,600 | — | — | — |
| 9 | 2,595,100 | — | — | — |
| 10 | 2,680,900 | — | — | — |
| 11 | 2,762,900 | — | — | — |
| 12 | 2,844,100 | — | — | — |
| 13 | 2,922,200 | 3,120,100 | — | — |
| 14 | 2,998,100 | 3,199,000 | — | — |
| 15 | 3,070,500 | 3,274,800 | — | — |
| 16 | 3,140,600 | 3,348,000 | — | — |
| 17 | 3,209,100 | 3,416,300 | — | — |
| 18 | 3,273,000 | 3,482,500 | — | — |
| 19 | 3,335,700 | 3,546,100 | 3,964,400 | — |
| 20 | 3,395,400 | 3,606,800 | 4,029,500 | — |
| 21 | 3,451,600 | 3,664,600 | 4,091,700 | — |
| 22 | 3,506,000 | 3,720,200 | 4,150,300 | — |
| 23 | 3,557,600 | 3,773,000 | 4,207,100 | — |
| 24 | 3,607,200 | 3,824,200 | 4,260,900 | 4,557,300 |
| 25 | 3,654,200 | 3,872,600 | 4,311,900 | 4,611,600 |
| 26 | 3,697,100 | 3,919,600 | 4,360,900 | 4,661,400 |
| 27 | 3,733,900 | 3,958,700 | 4,402,200 | 4,704,000 |
| 28 | 3,769,300 | 3,996,400 | 4,440,700 | 4,745,100 |
| 29 | 3,803,400 | 4,032,000 | 4,477,900 | 4,783,900 |
| 30 | 3,836,800 | 4,066,600 | 4,513,700 | 4,820,200 |
| 31 | 3,869,200 | 4,100,100 | 4,547,100 | 4,855,200 |
All 31 notice amounts were checked against the attached official PDF and the Decree annex’s first column.
The calculator caps the displayed step at 31 and does not interpolate missing amounts.
Basic pay and supervisory allowance are checked separately
Monthly supervisory amounts
- Leader: KRW 50,000
- Section chief: KRW 40,000
- Team chief: KRW 30,000
- No applicable role: KRW 0
Items to review
Basic shortfall = max(0, reference basic − actual basic)
Role shortfall = max(0, reference role pay − actual role pay)
Monthly shortfall = basic shortfall + role shortfall
Use gross basic pay and the actual supervisory allowance separately, excluding take-home pay and unrelated allowances.
Excess basic pay does not automatically offset an unpaid supervisory allowance, and excess role pay does not hide deficient basic pay.
The annual reference is 12 × (reference basic + role pay), not total employment cost: longevity, family and overtime allowances, insurance and retirement payments are excluded.
Worked example: 20 years of military service
Assume another workplace, zero police months, 240 military months, no other service, no special provisions and confirmed service records.
Standard step = 1 + floor(240 ÷ 12) = 21; reference basic pay = KRW 3,451,600.
With actual basic pay of KRW 2,133,000 and no supervisory role, the monthly item shortfall is KRW 1,318,600.
The fixed-condition illustration is KRW 15,823,200 for 12 months or KRW 47,469,600 for 36 months.
This example highlights a possible omission of military service credit.
It does not mean the worker held step 21 under the 2026 table throughout the preceding three years.
Verify historical ledgers before using any amount in a claim. The reset example starts with service confirmation unchecked, so assessment is withheld until records are checked and calculation is submitted again.
How to use the calculator and read its result
- Check the appointment document and legal workplace category, then select government or other placement.
- Read employment rules on credit and increments and select confirmed none, special provisions or unknown.
- Enter nonoverlapping, creditable complete months and confirm that the service records have been reconciled.
- Select the role, enter actual gross basic and supervisory pay, and choose the comparison months.
- Calculate and read the selected table, standard step, separate item shortfalls and cautions together.
- Save the TXT checklist or print the result and ask the employer’s personnel office for a review.
“Withheld” means employment rules or service reconciliation need checking.
“No shortfall” covers only the selected table items and does not certify every salary obligation.
After changing inputs, press Calculate again to obtain a new submitted result.
Three-year limitation and the fixed-condition illustration
Korea’s Labor Standards Act Article 49 provides a three-year limitation for wage claims that are not exercised.
The illustration equals current monthly shortfall × min(entered months, 36). It is not actual back pay calculated by applying 2026 amounts to earlier years.
Examine each payment due date, limitation interruption or suspension, historical salary tables, increments, role changes and payments already made.
Do not assume that requesting a salary-step review in writing alone safely preserves a wage claim.
The notice’s application to payments from January 2026 and the limitation period are separate questions.
Use the relevant table for each historical year. If a deadline is approaching, obtain advice from the competent authority or a qualified adviser about how to exercise the claim.
Practical uses and further checks
Appointment offer / omitted credit
Compare an offered salary and check whether military or qualifying same-employer service was omitted.
Service evidence should establish duties, dates and the appointing employer, not just a workplace name.
Employer budget preparation
The annual basic-and-role reference is a starting point for one worker’s budget.
Higher wages for similar jobs at the same other workplace can trigger the proviso to Decree Article 10. Other allowances and associated costs need separate budget lines.
Frequently asked questions
Does 20 years of military service put me in the corporal pay band?
No.
Military service contributes to the standard salary step, but the 15-, 23- and 30-year government bands use service as cheongwon police only.
With 240 military months and no cheongwon-police service, the under-15-year column still applies.
Does a public corporation automatically use the government table?
No.
A public institution or public corporation is not automatically a national government agency or local government.
Verify the appointing employer and legal workplace category.
The calculator uses the notice minimum for other workplaces.
Can I enter all my former security-guard work?
Check Decree Article 11(1)(3).
This concerns qualifying watchman, guard or similar work followed by appointment as cheongwon police by the appointing employer of that workplace.
Prior work for another employer or a security contractor is not automatically credited.
What happens if special employment rules exist?
The standard step and table remain an illustration, while the actual shortfall assessment and accumulated comparison are withheld.
Have the employer or competent authority examine the provisions, their validity and increment rules.
The existence of a special rule does not automatically authorize payment below a mandatory minimum.
Can a higher total paycheck offset a basic-pay shortfall?
Basic pay and the supervisory allowance are compared separately.
Excess payment of one item does not hide a shortfall in the other.
Longevity, family, overtime and other allowance obligations are outside this calculation.
Can I claim the displayed 36-month illustration?
It assumes the current table, step and actual monthly pay remain unchanged.
Real back pay requires historical tables, monthly step and role changes, payment due dates, limitation interruptions or suspension and amounts already paid.
Labor Standards Act Article 49 does not turn this multiplication into guaranteed recovery or a legal claim cap.
How do I handle overlapping periods or partial months?
Enter documented complete months after removing overlap and excluded service.
Do not enter cheongwon-police months again as other full-time government service.
Do not round days or part-time work into months without confirmation from the employer.
Does no shortfall mean my full salary and step are correct?
It means only that the selected 2026 table shows no basic-pay or supervisory-allowance shortfall under the submitted assumptions.
Higher comparable-job wages under the proviso to Decree Article 10 may require further review at other workplaces.
Other allowances, increment restrictions, special increments, taxes, pensions and the formal step decision still need checking.
Official sources and update policy
Official evidence was checked November 2, 2026 through the National Law Information OPEN API, including Decree annex 1 and the notice’s attached PDF.
The verified versions are Act MST245297 (effective November 15, 2022), Decree MST286189 (May 19, 2026), annex ID18137915, notice ID2100000279858 (May 22, 2026), Remuneration Regulation MST290321 (October 2, 2026) and Labor Standards Act MST285279 (October 8, 2026).
Recheck both the annual police notice and the Decree annex when pay changes.
Employment rules, internal guidance, comparable-job wages, part-time credit and limitation issues must be verified against the actual employer’s records.
Turn the result into a documented review request
Collect the saved result, military and employment certificates, appointment notice, employment rules and monthly salary ledgers.
Ask the appointing employer’s personnel office in writing to review the omitted service and applicable legal basis.
For disputes, consult the competent police or labor office. After the arrears principal is established, use the linked calculator to examine interest separately.
Calculate interest on confirmed wage arrears