The government plans to add 3,851 national public officials next year, focusing on public safety and people's livelihoods.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it has finalized the scale of next year's increase in national public officials and reflected it in the government budget proposal for 2027.

Looking at the major expansion plans, personnel in the public safety sector will be intensively reinforced.

Additions include 700 labor inspectors (540 in industrial safety and 160 in labor standards) to prevent serious accidents and create safe workplaces; 72 probation and electronic supervision personnel for high-risk groups to prevent crime; and 17 support and care personnel for vulnerable social groups such as people with disabilities.

The increase in labor inspectors follows a phased annual plan.

Starting with 1,000 in 2025, a total of 3,050 positions will be added through 2028.

The government will also thoroughly respond to various disasters and calamities by reinforcing personnel, including 3 officials for the newly established Central Forest Disaster Situation Room and forest fire and landslide situation management; 3 chemical accident response personnel for industrial complexes; and 1 official dedicated to quarantine measures for zoonotic diseases.

In addition, it will add 64 rehabilitation personnel for drug offender probation and correctional institutions; 26 personnel for trade and foreign exchange transaction inspections and investigations; and 9 personnel to track and recover overseas hidden assets of super-high-value tax delinquents.

The government will newly establish a National Project Management Officer position to strengthen monitoring and management of projects involving massive budgets or those closely related to public life, and to prevent fiscal leakage.

Personnel in advanced industries such as artificial intelligence (AI) will also be reinforced to leap forward as a global superpower with a technological super-gap.

AI-dedicated departments or personnel will be reinforced in defense, land, and transportation sectors to support the utilization of AI technology.

Personnel for screening cutting-edge patents and other fields will be significantly expanded by 105 to shorten the screening processing period.

This is to support companies in securing core technologies first and gaining an upper hand in the global market.

In addition, to systematically and effectively promote youth policies, dedicated departments will be established in relevant ministries, including the Youth Welfare Policy Division of the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Youth Policy Strategy Division of the Ministry of Planning and Budget.

Personnel for major policy promotion will also be expanded, including the addition of 47 Labor Relations Commission investigators in response to the amendment of the Trade Union Act.

Frontline public security personnel, such as police, will also be reinforced.

The police will establish investigation review officers in 2 provincial and municipal police agencies and investigation divisions in 5 police stations.

A total of 215 personnel, mainly focused on investigation units for drug and cyber crimes as well as complaints and accusations, will be reinforced to strengthen internal control and capabilities in police investigations.

The Korea Coast Guard will add a total of 354 personnel, including 222 crew members for the introduction of 35 new vessels, 12 for the establishment of the Jungbu Maritime Special Rescue Team, and 23 for maritime drug crime investigations, to strengthen maritime patrol and safety.

A total of 1,139 teachers will be expanded, including special education teachers due to an increase in special education students, non-subject teachers such as counseling and health for student health, and national university professors to cultivate personnel in regional essential medical care and advanced fields.

The government plans to assign temporary quotas to operate personnel for as long as needed during temporary surges in workload, and to expand fields with large-scale demands, such as teachers and labor inspectors, step-by-step in consideration of national finances and manpower supply conditions.

Conversely, organizations and personnel in areas with reduced workloads and diminished functions will be redeployed to new demand areas to enhance the efficiency of the government organization.

Accordingly, the Hwacheon Branch of the Settlement Support Center for North Korean Refugees, which has seen a decrease in trainees, will be abolished, while an integrated support center for supporting vulnerable North Korean refugee households and social integration education will be newly established.

The final scale of the increase in national public officials for next year will be finalized in December this year following deliberation by the National Assembly.

Interior and Safety Minister Yunho stated, "We will secure national governance momentum in the fields of artificial intelligence and advanced technology that will drive the future super-gap industries, while simultaneously carrying out routine organizational diagnoses and personnel redeployments to continuously pursue the efficiency of government organizations."

(Photo provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Yonhap News)