In response to the crisis of regional decline, the mandatory regional talent hiring system has successfully filled 70% of new positions at public institutions outside the capital area with local talent. This achievement significantly exceeds the legal requirement of 35%, indicating that the system is becoming firmly established in practice.
However, national research institutions that require highly specialized skills are facing a severe shortage of master's and doctoral candidates, revealing limitations in the system that hinder compliance with mandatory hiring quotas. Experts are calling for tailored solutions to address these challenges.
On June 18, the Education Ministry released findings from a survey of 184 public institutions located outside the capital. In 2025, these institutions hired a total of 17,871 new employees, of which 12,742, or 71.3%, were classified as "regional talent." This figure is more than double the legally mandated hiring rate of 35%, demonstrating the system's stable implementation.
Compared to the previous year, 2024, when 9,513 regional talents were hired at a rate of 64.5%, the number of hires increased by 3,229, or approximately 34%, while the average hiring rate rose by 6.8 percentage points. Among the 184 institutions, 98.3%, or 181, met the mandatory criteria, with the number of non-compliant institutions decreasing from four last year to three this year.
However, national research institutions that require highly specialized skills are facing a severe shortage of master's and doctoral candidates, revealing limitations in the system that hinder compliance with mandatory hiring quotas. Experts are calling for tailored solutions to address these challenges.
On June 18, the Education Ministry released findings from a survey of 184 public institutions located outside the capital. In 2025, these institutions hired a total of 17,871 new employees, of which 12,742, or 71.3%, were classified as "regional talent." This figure is more than double the legally mandated hiring rate of 35%, demonstrating the system's stable implementation.
Compared to the previous year, 2024, when 9,513 regional talents were hired at a rate of 64.5%, the number of hires increased by 3,229, or approximately 34%, while the average hiring rate rose by 6.8 percentage points. Among the 184 institutions, 98.3%, or 181, met the mandatory criteria, with the number of non-compliant institutions decreasing from four last year to three this year.
The Education Ministry attributed the increase in regional talent hiring to the overall expansion of hiring at public institutions in 2025 and a rise in applicants from local areas.
Conversely, three institutions that struggled to meet the mandatory hiring rate for regional talent in 2025 were identified as the Korea Atomic Energy Safety Agency, the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. Last year's non-compliant institutions, including the Korea Copyright Commission and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, have since met the current standards.
Experts have praised the current mandatory regional talent hiring system for effectively addressing the regional decline crisis and expanding local job opportunities. However, they caution that applying the same standards across all public institutions could undermine the competitiveness of national research institutions and distort the hiring market.
For instance, the Korea Atomic Energy Safety Agency primarily needs to hire engineering professionals with master's or doctoral degrees, yet there is a significant shortage of qualified candidates from local universities. Moreover, under the current criteria, graduates from key science and technology institutions located outside the capital, such as KAIST, UNIST, and DGIST, are not recognized as "regional universities," creating a systemic gap that prevents their hiring from counting as regional talent.
Similarly, the KDI faces challenges as its hiring structure is centered around research personnel with master's degrees or higher, but the pool of qualified regional candidates is limited. Unlike the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's regional talent hiring target system, which allows for flexibility by exempting master's-level hires, the regional university development law applies strict criteria, recognizing only doctoral-level hires as exceptions, which poses a significant barrier to effective staffing at national research institutions.
The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training is constrained by structural limitations in its hiring capacity. Of the six total hires planned for 2025, five are required to be doctoral-level researchers, exempt from the mandatory hiring quota, leaving only one hire (a master's-level researcher) subject to the legal requirement. Failing to select this one candidate as a regional talent results in a hiring rate of zero, leading to its inclusion on the list of non-compliant institutions.
In response, experts recommend "flexibility and redefinition of regional university criteria, detailed exception regulations considering institutional characteristics, and fundamental workforce development to activate local graduate programs." They also emphasize the need for the government, local governments, and public institutions outside the capital to collaborate in significantly supporting research and development (R&D) degree programs that can cultivate highly specialized talent locally.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry plans to continue encouraging non-compliant institutions to expand their hiring. They also stated that as the system enters its third year, they aim to operate it effectively to ensure it serves as a catalyst for the growth, employment, and settlement of regional talent.
Conversely, three institutions that struggled to meet the mandatory hiring rate for regional talent in 2025 were identified as the Korea Atomic Energy Safety Agency, the Korea Development Institute (KDI), and the Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training. Last year's non-compliant institutions, including the Korea Copyright Commission and the Korea Institute for International Economic Policy, have since met the current standards.
Experts have praised the current mandatory regional talent hiring system for effectively addressing the regional decline crisis and expanding local job opportunities. However, they caution that applying the same standards across all public institutions could undermine the competitiveness of national research institutions and distort the hiring market.
For instance, the Korea Atomic Energy Safety Agency primarily needs to hire engineering professionals with master's or doctoral degrees, yet there is a significant shortage of qualified candidates from local universities. Moreover, under the current criteria, graduates from key science and technology institutions located outside the capital, such as KAIST, UNIST, and DGIST, are not recognized as "regional universities," creating a systemic gap that prevents their hiring from counting as regional talent.
Similarly, the KDI faces challenges as its hiring structure is centered around research personnel with master's degrees or higher, but the pool of qualified regional candidates is limited. Unlike the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport's regional talent hiring target system, which allows for flexibility by exempting master's-level hires, the regional university development law applies strict criteria, recognizing only doctoral-level hires as exceptions, which poses a significant barrier to effective staffing at national research institutions.
The Korea Research Institute for Vocational Education and Training is constrained by structural limitations in its hiring capacity. Of the six total hires planned for 2025, five are required to be doctoral-level researchers, exempt from the mandatory hiring quota, leaving only one hire (a master's-level researcher) subject to the legal requirement. Failing to select this one candidate as a regional talent results in a hiring rate of zero, leading to its inclusion on the list of non-compliant institutions.
In response, experts recommend "flexibility and redefinition of regional university criteria, detailed exception regulations considering institutional characteristics, and fundamental workforce development to activate local graduate programs." They also emphasize the need for the government, local governments, and public institutions outside the capital to collaborate in significantly supporting research and development (R&D) degree programs that can cultivate highly specialized talent locally.
Meanwhile, the Education Ministry plans to continue encouraging non-compliant institutions to expand their hiring. They also stated that as the system enters its third year, they aim to operate it effectively to ensure it serves as a catalyst for the growth, employment, and settlement of regional talent.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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