U.S. Government Jobs in Korea: Any Open to the Public?

Army IT security job asks for Top Secret clearance and 5+ years

A quiet office desk with a laptop and a closed folder beside a window looking out over a Korean hillside base.

A U.S. Army Information Technology Specialist (Security) posting based in South Korea requires a Top Secret clearance and 5+ years of experience. It pays $114,695 - $156,753 a year. If you're an American looking at government jobs in Korea for foreigners, that's the kind of post that actually shows up. It isn't an entry-level one. U.S. government postings in Korea do exist across the Army, the Air Force, nursing and school administration. But a USAJOBS search for South Korea with the open-to-the-public filter shows 0 jobs.

The Korea list runs from Army IT to school principals

A bulletin board in a bright hallway with several blank paper notices pinned in a neat row.

The page lists U.S. government job announcements in South Korea. The Department of the Army has three: Physical Security Specialist, Information Technology Project Manager (Network Services), and the IT Specialist (Security) post above. The Department of the Air Force has a Work/Life Consultant opening at Kunsan.

The list isn't only tech and security. It also has Nurse (Clinical/Ambulatory) and Safety and Occupational Health Specialist, along with School Principal (Elementary/Middle/High) and Assistant Principal (Elementary/Middle/High/Special Education).

The Army cyber posting is an Excepted Service position under the DOD Cyber Excepted Service (CES) personnel system, and the authority given is 10 USC 1599f. That is a different hiring track from the usual competitive one, so the posting reads differently from a standard federal ad.

Agency	Location	Role	Clearance	Pay	Federal or contractor
Department of the Army	South Korea	Information Technology Specialist (Security)	Top Secret, 5+ years experience	$114,695 - $156,753 per year	Federal
Department of the Army	USAG-Humphreys, Pyeongtaek area	Physical Security Specialist	—	—	Federal
Department of the Army	South Korea	Information Technology Project Manager (Network Services)	—	—	Federal
Department of the Air Force	Kunsan	Work/Life Consultant	Secret	—	Federal
—	South Korea	Nurse (Clinical/Ambulatory)	—	—	Federal
—	South Korea	Safety and Occupational Health Specialist	—	—	Federal
—	South Korea	School Principal (Elementary/Middle/High)	—	—	Federal
—	South Korea	Assistant Principal (Elementary/Middle/High/Special Education)	—	—	Federal
Peraton	Korean peninsula	Korean Operations Program (IT, cyber, network work)	—	—	Contractor

Two postings name a clearance level up front

A security badge reader on a plain wall next to a closed door in a government building.

Only two postings in the table name a clearance level at all: Top Secret for the Army post, and Secret for the Air Force Work/Life Consultant job at Kunsan.

Read the clearance line before anything else. It decides whether a posting is realistic for you at all. Top Secret plus 5+ years of experience is a steep bar, and no amount of Korea enthusiasm gets around it.

Only one posting shows a salary range

Of the postings found, only the Army IT Specialist (Security) job gives a pay range, quoted per year in U.S. dollars. The Kunsan post shows no pay range, so there is nothing to compare it against.

Pyeongtaek and Kunsan are the named locations

The Physical Security Specialist job for the Department of the Army sits at USAG-Humphreys, in the Pyeongtaek area. The Work/Life Consultant job is at Kunsan. The two Army IT postings say only South Korea.

The contractor work covered below is spread across the whole Korean peninsula rather than one base. If you want to narrow a search, Pyeongtaek and Kunsan are the two place names to start with.

A South Korea search on USAJOBS can come back empty

The USAJOBS results for South Korea show nothing for that location. The Open to the public filter reads 0 jobs, and no agency or department matches the search. So a federal posting in Korea you can apply to straight away isn't something to count on.

Don't plan a move around an easy way in. The Easiest Route Is Teaching](/korean-life/study-work/can-i-work-in-korea-as-a-us-citizen-the-easiest-route-is-teaching/). High-Demand Jobs in South Korea: English Teaching and IT covers jobs in South Korea for English speakers and tech workers.

A contractor post isn't a government job

Peraton's Korean Operations Program posting can look like a government job, but Peraton is a private company. It describes itself as working with government agencies in intelligence, space, cyber and defense. It isn't an agency itself.

The work is technical: information operations, IT support, cybersecurity, and network operations and maintenance. It serves U.S. government partner agencies and customers across the Korean peninsula. Benefits for SCA and CBA positions can vary with the contract terms, so a contractor offer isn't the same package as a federal one.