National university hospitals, which are expected to lead public healthcare, are falling into a chronic moral hazard by financially compensating for their social responsibility of employing people with disabilities. Over the past four years, most of the 14 national university (dental) hospitals have failed to meet the legally mandated disability employment quotas, resulting in a staggering total of 23 billion won in penalties.
According to data submitted to Rep. Seo Mi-hwa of the Democratic Party, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, the failure to meet disability employment quotas has been a recurring issue at the 14 national university (dental) hospitals under the Ministry of Education (now under the Ministry of Health and Welfare as of August this year) from 2022 to 2025.
The mandatory disability employment rate for public institutions, as stipulated in the Act on the Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities and Vocational Rehabilitation, is set at 3.6% for 2022-2023 and 3.8% for 2024-2026. However, these hospitals have collectively paid a total of 23.053 billion won in penalties over the four years due to their failure to meet these employment rates.
A year-by-year analysis of the disability employment compliance at national university hospitals reveals a serious situation. In 2022, only one hospital, Pusan National University Dental Hospital, met the 3.6% employment rate, while the other 13 hospitals fell short, incurring a total penalty of 6.7 billion won. Kyungpook National University Dental Hospital recorded the lowest rate at 2.17%, while Seoul National University Hospital achieved only 2.58%.
The situation worsened in 2023, with all 14 hospitals failing to meet the mandatory employment rate, marking an unprecedented total failure. Seoul National University Dental Hospital recorded the lowest rate at 1.72%, followed by Kyungpook National University Hospital (2.19%), Chonnam National University Hospital (2.20%), and Chungbuk National University Hospital (2.28%), resulting in a total penalty of 6.2 billion won.
Despite the increase in the mandatory employment rate to 3.8% in 2024, the employment performance of national university hospitals did not significantly improve. In both 2024 and 2025, 11 hospitals recorded employment rates that were either marginally above or significantly below the required threshold.
In 2024, Kyungpook National University Hospital had the lowest rate at 2.22%, with Chonnam National University Hospital (2.62%), Jeonbuk National University Hospital (2.63%), and Seoul National University Hospital (2.98%) also falling short, leading to a total penalty of 5.2 billion won.
In 2025, Jeonbuk National University Hospital (2.36%), Kyungpook National University Hospital (2.41%), and Seoul National University Hospital (2.85%) were among the 11 hospitals that failed to meet the quota, incurring a penalty of 4.9 billion won.
Notably, Seoul National University Hospital, which prides itself on being one of the top medical institutions in the country, paid a total of 9.365 billion won in penalties over four years, with amounts of 2.803 billion won in 2022, 2.364 billion won in 2023, 2.054 billion won in 2024, and 2.144 billion won in 2025, epitomizing the practice of compensating with money instead of fulfilling its obligations.
Under current law, institutions that fail to meet the disability employment rate must pay penalties proportional to the number of unfilled positions. However, national university hospitals have been criticized for using the unique structure of their workforce (which consists largely of medical professionals) as an excuse to avoid proactive job development and hiring efforts, instead opting to pay these fines as a matter of course.
Rep. Seo Mi-hwa stated, "As institutions responsible for public healthcare, national university hospitals should set an example in employing people with disabilities. They must move away from the practice of paying penalties amounting to billions of won each year in lieu of meeting employment quotas." She urged these hospitals to actively promote hiring and improve working conditions to ensure stable employment for individuals with disabilities.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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