South Korea will give more incentives to local companies that employ disabled soldiers and those that sustained injuries in the service of the country, the government said on Sunday.

Ministry of Patriots & Veterans Affairs recently made a pre-announcement of legislation outlining expanded support for those with national honorees status, so as to get more companies to hire these people who have made sacrifices for the country.

According to the changes, employing a wounded veteran or other honorees with a disability level of five or higher will be counted as hiring two disabled employees. Levels five to one on the disability scale translates into increasing severity of injuries.

The ministry expects that the "market-friendly" approach will motivate companies to hire more people with injuries and prop up the employment rate of soldiers, police, firefighters and other people who have done good deeds for the country.

The revised rules comes amid rising complaints that local companies are shunning hiring national honorees. The companies, on the other hand, voiced reservations that the mandatory employment quota for such people are unrealistically high.

According to local law, companies are legally bound to maintain a 3-8 percent employment quota for disabled patriots and those injured while helping others. However, the regulation has stayed largely nominal, as a majority of local companies would rather pay fine of 5 million won ($4,355) than hire people with physical impairments. (Yonhap)