[Reporter’s Notebook] Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to Record Even Verbal Reports

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] "If only those who work hard get into trouble, who would want to work? Bureaucratic society will only see the spread of welfare inertia."

The candid confession of a Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy official I recently met clearly revealed the harsh reality that makes it difficult to promote proactive administration. With frontline officials being arrested over the nuclear phase-out policy and the deletion of nuclear documents turning into a North Korea-related issue, who could actively review matters?

As the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy became unsettled, Minister Sung Yun-mo recently ordered the formation of a task force (TF) to improve work culture. The TF, composed of young employees, voiced many complaints, and the ministry began preparing improvement measures.

However, the improvement plans are equally bitter. The push to digitize records of verbal reports is a clear example. They intend to keep detailed records not only of written document reports but also of verbal reports that leave no trace. After the arrest of directors and section chiefs over the deletion of nuclear documents, employees’ dissatisfaction and frustration grew, feeling that only the "tails" were caught while the "body" escaped, eventually leading to the idea of digitizing verbal reports.

To prevent disputes, the ministry is also significantly increasing the number of legal advisors and considering morale-boosting measures such as preferential promotion for employees in the energy division, which has become an undesirable department. Additionally, comprehensive work culture improvement plans are being examined, including increasing video reports instead of verbal reports to ministers and vice ministers, and minimizing the number and duration of meetings.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s efforts are commendable but it is questionable whether they will be a fundamental solution. The root cause of excessive administrative burdens on officials is the reckless policy push at the regime level, such as the nuclear phase-out, but nothing has changed in the current situation. Instead, the bureaucratic society, scarred by wounds, has left behind a rigid atmosphere where proactive administration is avoided for fear of trouble when working hard. When bureaucrats avoid proactive administration, the loss is borne entirely by the public. Looking at the ministry’s plan to digitize even verbal reports, I want to ask whether the responsibility for turning policy decisions into matters for judicial judgment can really be placed solely on the bureaucratic society.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.