Civil servants hold a rally for higher wages near the Goverment Complex Seoul, Saturday. Yonhap

Entry-level civil servants in Korea are receiving about 160,000 won ($115) more than the minimum wage on average in their monthly salaries for their first year on the job, according to data, Monday.

The data released by the Korean Government Employees' Union comes as civil service jobs are no longer considered attractive to Millennials and Gen Z, despite previously being coveted for lifetime job security.

The data showed the monthly wage paid to first-year grade 9 civil servants averaged 2.22 million won this year. That included a base salary of 1.87 million won plus extra expenses to carry out duties, such as a meal allowance of 140,000 won.

Grade 9 is the lowest in a nine-level system for government employees.

The 2.22 million won was 161,260 won more than 2.06 million won, which a salaried worker can earn at least per month under the year's legal minimum hourly wage of 9,860 won.

“The wage gap between first-year grade 9 civil servants and minimum wage workers will diminish further when tax is deducted,” the union said.

Civil servants have been earning less pay than employees of leading private businesses. In the past, however, young jobseekers competed intensively in entry-level civil service exams as they would not get fired once hired.

A relatively better work-life balance than the private sector was also a reason behind the popularity of entry-level civil service jobs.

The competition has weakened drastically in recent years as private companies are increasingly pursuing work-life balance.

According to the Ministry of Personnel Management, the competition rate for the grade 9 exam this year was 21.8 to 1, the lowest since 1992.

The rate has been falling for eight years straight since 2016 when it was 53.8 to 1.