President Moon Jae-in and other high-ranking government officials will not take salary raises next year, given the economic crisis arising from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moon, the highest-paid government official in the nation, will be paid 238.23 million won ($218,095) next year, while Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun will be second with 184.69 million won.

The Ministry of Personnel Management recently approved a 0.9 percent pay increase for public servants next year. Under the plan, Moon’s pay was scheduled to increase to 240.649 million won.

Because Moon also declined to accept a pay hike this year, next year’s pay was based on his original salary set for this year.

The president’s salary is almost six times the average wage in South Korea, which has a gross domestic product per capita of 37.43 million won.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)