Patriots ministry tiers fines for hiring rule breaches

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs said the revised presidential decree takes effect on Aug. 25, replacing a flat maximum penalty with a scale based on the frequency of offenses.

The change aims to improve the appropriateness of administrative dispositions by addressing operational gaps in the current system, where authorities previously could only impose the upper limit of 3 million won regardless of whether an institution had failed to report once or multiple times.

Under previous rules, agencies faced a single fine of up to 3 million won for failing to submit required reports. The updated regulation allows authorities to levy penalties ranging from 1 million won to 3 million won depending on whether the violation is a first or repeat occurrence.

Institutions subject to the rule include government bodies, private companies and schools, which are mandated to hire veterans at rates between 3 percent and 8 percent of their total workforce. Prior violations committed before the decree's enforcement will count toward the total number of offenses when calculating fines under the new schedule.

President Lee Jae-myung signed the amendment on Aug. 25 following a review by the State Council.