(Yonhap)
(Yonhap)

The annual salary of suspended President Yoon Suk Yeol rises 3 percent this year, according to the Ministry of Personnel Management on Sunday.

The president, facing both a trial at the Constitutional Court to confirm his impeachment and a separate investigation for allegedly leading an insurrection and abuse of power, will now be earning 21.8 million won ($14,900) per month.

The president’s annual salary for 2025 has been set at 262.6 million won, up 3 percent from 254.9 million won in 2024. The president's monthly net income, after taxes, will be around 14.5 million won. The adjustment was made in line with this year's salary increase for government officials, which also rose by 3 percent.

Yoon has been suspended from his duties since Dec. 14, 2024, when the National Assembly passed a bill for his impeachment, 11 days after his short-lived martial law.

Despite being suspended from power, Yoon continues to draw his salary as he will retain his status as president until and unless the Constitutional Court upholds the impeachment. The court has been reviewing the bill, with a six-month deadline.

If the impeachment bill is upheld, he will instantly be stripped of a list of privileges.

Under the law, presidents are entitled to 95 percent of their salary for the rest of their lives after leaving office. This benefit includes three secretaries and a private driver, all classified as government officials, along with financial funding for operating a private office and additional services such as security, transportation and communication, deemed essential for former presidents.

Former President Moon Jae-in has received a pension since his five-year term ended in May 2022.

On the other hand, former President Park Geun-hye does not receive a presidential pension due to her impeachment in March 2017. Similarly, former President Lee Myung-bak, who served from February 2008 to February 2013, lost his pension after being convicted of bribery in 2018. Lee, initially sentenced to 17 years in prison, was pardoned in December 2022 by Yoon.

Acting President Choi Sang-mok, meanwhile, still receives the annual salary of his original and concurrently held position as deputy prime minister -- 154 million won before taxes, which also increased 3 percent from the previous year's 149.5 million won.

Han Duck-soo, who was acting president for less than two weeks before his suspension from that position with the National Assembly’s vote to impeach him on Dec. 27, also still receives his gross salary as concurrent prime minister: 203.5 million won. But if the Constitutional Court rules to confirm the Assembly's impeachment, he will also be stripped of his privileges as prime minister.

This year's annual raise in salary for government officials marks the highest increase since 2017's 3.5 percent.


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