Average Defense Officer Salary in South Korea for 2024

In this article, we will look at the average Defense Officer salary for 2024 in South Korea and how that compares to other countries and professions. We'll also look at interesting salary data points like median salary, 25th and 75th percentile salaries, salary amounts based on experience, bonus ranges and more!

The data in this article has been compiled using official government salary data, salary surveys, and other sources such as job postings which contain salary information.

All salary information is in the local currency, which is the South Korean won. To keep things simple, we are using the KRW currency code instead of the currency symbol โ‚ฉ.

How Much Does a Defense Officer Make in South Korea?

A Defense Officer working in South Korea will typically earn around 52,918,800 KRW per year, and this can range from the lowest average salary of about 25,919,400 KRW to the highest average salary of 82,439,700 KRW.

Average Annual Salary
52,918,800 KRW
Average Monthly Salary
4,409,900 KRW

Lowest Annual Salary
25,919,400 KRW
Lowest Monthly Salary
2,159,950 KRW

Highest Annual Salary
82,439,700 KRW
Highest Monthly Salary
6,869,975 KRW

These are average salaries for a Defense Officer in South Korea and include benefits such as housing and transport. It's also possible for a Defense Officer to earn more or less than the average salaries shown above.

Defense Officer salaries will vary a lot based on your experience, location, skills, and gender. Keep reading below to research more data on each of these areas.

Distribution of Defense Officer Salaries in South Korea

So we've looked at the average salaries a Defense Officer will earn in South Korea. The next interesting data point is the distribution of salaries.

Salary ranges

We already know that a Defense Officer can earn between 25,919,400 KRW and 82,439,700 KRW on average in South Korea. This is known as the range in statistics.

The difference between the maximum and minimum values is a good indicator of variability in salaries, and can be used by employers to figure out how much they can expect to pay, and for employees to know how much they can earn.

Median salary

The median salary for a Defense Officer in South Korea is 53,879,800 KRW. This is the middle value in the distribution of salaries.

What this means is that approximately 50% of the population earn less than 53,879,800 KRW, and 50% of the population earn more than 53,879,800 KRW.

If you are earning more than the median salary, that's a good indicator that you are being paid well.

If you're not earning more than the median salary, your objective should be to increase your earnings to be at least as high as the median salary (which you can do by asking for a pay rise, looking for a better paying job, etc).

Percentiles

Percentiles are similar to the median salary, but instead of looking at the middle value, they look at the values in the top and bottom half of the distribution.

For the average Defense Officer salary in South Korea, 25% of the population are earning less than 35,878,200 KRW while 75% of the population earn more than 35,878,200 KRW.

75% of the population earn less than 69,599,200 KRW, and 25% of the population earn more than 69,599,200 KRW.

Like the median salary, the 25th and 75th percentile salaries can be used to determine which quartile you fall into so that you know whether you are being paid well enough compared to others in your profession and location.

The difference between a median and an average salary

The median and average salary are both indicators you can use to see if you are being paid fairly based on the overall population.

  • If your salary is higher than the average and the median salary, you are earning well compared to others.
  • If your salary is lower than the average and the median salary, it could indicate you are not being paid well enough.
  • If you are somewhere in between then it's tricky to determine if you are being paid well enough and you might need to research more closely.

Defense Officer Salary by Experience Level in South Korea

The most important factor in determining your salary after the specific profession is the number of years experience you have. It stands to reason that more years of experience will result in a higher wage.

We have researched the average defense officer salary based on years of experience to give you an idea of how the average changes once you've worked for a certain amount of time.

  • 0 - 2 Years Experience. A Defense Officer in South Korea that has less than two years of experience can expect to earn somewhere in the region of 30,721,900 KRW.
  • 2 - 5 Years Experience. With two to five years of experience the average Defense Officer salary would increase to 39,481,900 KRW.
  • 5 - 10 Years Experience. From five to ten years of experience as a Defense Officer, the average salary would be 54,479,300 KRW.
  • 10 - 15 Years Experience. Once you have more than ten years of experience the average salary reaches around 67,441,500 KRW.
  • 15 - 20 Years Experience. A Defense Officer with 15 to 20 years of experience can earn an average of 72,240,100 KRW.
  • 20+ Years Experience. For a Defense Officer with more than 20 years, the expected average salary increases to 77,159,200 KRW.

Average Salary by Experience Chart

0-2 Years
30,721,900 KRW
2-5 Years +29%
39,481,900 KRW
5-10 Years +38%
54,479,300 KRW
10-15 Years +24%
67,441,500 KRW
15-20 Years +7%
72,240,100 KRW
20+ Years +7%
77,159,200 KRW

Defense Officer Salary by Education Level in South Korea

As well as experience in a job, your education plays a big role in how much you can earn. A lot of higher paying positions require a high level of education, but how much can a degree increase your salary?

In our research we have compared the salaries of employees in the same job and career level with different levels of education to see how much more you can earn at each education level.

The salary you can earn based on your education is very specific to both your location and the career path you choose.

In our research, we looked at the average salary for a Defense Officer in South Korea based on the education level of the employees in order to find out whether a better education level would increase your salary.

  • High School. A Defense Officer in South Korea with a high school education can earn an average salary of 39,481,900 KRW.

  • Certificate or Diploma. A Defense Officer in South Korea with a certificate or diploma education can earn an average salary of 56,401,100 KRW.

  • Bachelor's Degree. A Defense Officer in South Korea with a bachelor's degree education can earn an average salary of 78,000,700 KRW.

Average Salary by Education Chart

High School
39,481,900 KRW
Certificate or Diploma +43%
56,401,100 KRW
Bachelor's Degree +38%
78,000,700 KRW

How Much is a Master's Degree or MBA Program?

The approximate cost of a master's degree or post-graduate program like an MBA in South Korea is around 19,400,000 to 58,300,000 KRW and takes two years to complete.

As you can see above, there are financial benefits from reaching master's degree level, but don't expect to see much of a salary increase until you have completed the degree.

It's common for people to pursue an MBA or other post-graduate program in order to switch to a a job that pays more. On average, you can expect to earn around 10% more when switching to a new company.

Whether you decide to pursue a master's degree depends on many factors. If you are able to afford it, the numbers suggest that the return on investment is worth it and you could recover the costs in a few years from the salary increase you would receive.

Defense Officer Salary Compared by Gender

In the modern age, we know that there should never be a pay gap between men and women. Unfortunately, in many professions, there is still a significant difference between the salaries earned by men when compared to the salary of women in the same job.

In South Korea, a male defense officer will earn an average of 54,239,900 KRW, while a female defense officer will earn around 51,238,900 KRW.

This means that a male defense officer earns approximately 6% more than a female defense officer for performing the same job.

Average Salary by Gender Chart in South Korea

Male
54,239,900 KRW
Female -6%
51,238,900 KRW

Defense Officer Average Pay Raise in South Korea

In many countries, an annual pay raise is often given to employees to reward their service with a salary increase.

From our research, we can see that the average pay raise for a Defense Officer in South Korea is around 13% every 16 months.

The national average pay raise across all professions and industries in South Korea is around 9% every 16 months.

In this case, we can see that the number of months between the average pay raise is higher than the typical 12 months.

To make the data more meaningful, we can calculate what the approximate annual pay raise would be using a simple formula:

Annual Increase = ( Increase Rate ÷ Months ) × 12

So for this example, it would be:

Annual Increase = ( 13 ÷ 16 ) × 12  = 10%

What this means is that a Defense Officer in South Korea can expect to receive an average pay raise of around 10% every 12 months.

Annual Pay Raise by Industry in South Korea for 2024

In the chart below, you can see the average annual pay raise percentages for each of the major industries in South Korea.

You will see that companies in bigger and more lucrative industries tend to have the higher annual pay raises.

Banking
6%
Energy
3%
Information Technology
9%
Healthcare
6%
Travel
3%
Construction
9%
Education
6%

Defense Officer Bonus and Incentive Rates in South Korea

Another part of your overall compensation in a job is how much bonus you receive. Some job roles will be more likely to pay a bonus than others and also more likely to have higher bonus rates.

Generally speaking, jobs that are more involved with direct revenue generation will receive higher bonuses based on the performance towards revenue goals.

A Defense Officer is a low bonus based job, with 32% of employees reporting at least one bonus in the last 12 months.

68% reported that they had not received any bonuses in the previous 12 months.

For the employees that did receive a bonus in the previous 12 months, the reported bonuses ranged from 0% to 4%.

Received Bonus
32%
No Bonus
68%

What are the Types of Bonus?

There are a number of difference types of bonus you can receive in a job. Including:

  • Individual performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee for general performance in the job. It's the most common type of bonus.
  • Company performance bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to a company employees to share profit with the staff.
  • Goal based bonus - This is a bonus that is awarded to an individual employee (or a team) for achieving specific goals, objectives, or milestones.
  • Holiday bonus - This type of bonus is usually paid around the holidays, often the end of the year, and is a token of appreciation for the hard work throughout the year.

Government vs Private Sector Salaries

Another commonly asked question is whether you get paid a higher salary working in the public (government) sector or the private sector.

Public sector employees in South Korea earn approximately 6% more than private sector employees in the same role.

Public Sector
47,880,300 KRW
Private Sector -6%
45,239,100 KRW

Salaries for Jobs Similar to a Defense Officer

In the table below, we have salary information for jobs that are similar to a Defense Officer in South Korea.

Job Title Category Salary
Armed Forces Officer Government and Defence 38,641,600 KRW
Army Officer Government and Defence 41,520,800 KRW
Cartographer Government and Defence 33,240,500 KRW
Customs Officer Government and Defence 33,961,700 KRW
Electoral Project Coordinator Government and Defence 60,119,800 KRW
Federal Government Worker Government and Defence 41,158,900 KRW
Government Affairs Advisor Government and Defence 71,878,800 KRW
Government Affairs Director Government and Defence 80,278,500 KRW
Government Affairs Representative Government and Defence 74,399,600 KRW
Government Officer Government and Defence 63,840,300 KRW
Government Property Inspector Government and Defence 66,119,000 KRW
Government Relations Associate Government and Defence 68,398,200 KRW
International Cooperation Specialist Government and Defence 78,838,900 KRW
Military Personnel Government and Defence 57,479,000 KRW
Police Constable Government and Defence 38,399,900 KRW
Public Affairs Specialist Government and Defence 56,998,400 KRW
Public Information Officer Government and Defence 34,919,600 KRW
Rifleman Government and Defence 28,318,900 KRW
Soldier Government and Defence 34,679,400 KRW
VAT Fraud Investigator Government and Defence 47,640,400 KRW

Salary Comparison by City

If you want to compare salaries with different cities in South Korea, you can use the links below to explore the data for each specific city we have researched.

City Average Salary
Bucheon 47,158,400 KRW
Busan 57,118,900 KRW
Daegu 56,041,700 KRW
Daejeon 55,560,400 KRW
Goyang 48,721,100 KRW
Gwangju 54,961,400 KRW
Incheon 56,641,700 KRW
Seongnam 46,680,900 KRW
Seoul 57,598,800 KRW
Suweon 54,479,300 KRW
Ulsan 49,198,300 KRW

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  • "Average Defense Officer Salary in South Korea for 2024". World Salaries. Accessed on March 29, 2024. https://worldsalaries.com/average-defense-officer-salary-in-south-korea/.

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  • Average Defense Officer Salary in South Korea for 2024. World Salaries. Retrieved from https://worldsalaries.com/average-defense-officer-salary-in-south-korea/.