[2021 National Audit] Statistics Korea Chief: "To Develop Social Integration Indicators, Cross-Ministry Administrative Data Sharing Is Necessary"

National Assembly Budget Committee Audit of Statistics Korea and Others on the 12th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Ryu Geun-gwan, Commissioner of the Korea National Statistical Office, stated that "to establish comprehensive statistical indicators related to social integration, it is necessary to share administrative data across ministries."

On the morning of the 12th, at the National Assembly Budget and Accounts Committee's audit held at the National Assembly in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, Commissioner Ryu responded to a question from Kim Ju-young, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asking, "What is the most necessary factor to develop social integration indicators?"

Rep. Kim pointed out, "Polarization has deepened due to the COVID-19 situation, and to objectively measure this, it is necessary to promote the development of indicators through linking related data such as income, employment, health, and housing." He added, "However, due to the absence of an inter-ministerial data linkage system and mandatory administrative data protection measures, it is difficult to obtain data from each ministry, making it challenging to produce accurate statistics."

Commissioner Ryu agreed. He explained, "Our national statistics system is fundamentally decentralized," adding, "For example, to comprehensively grasp polarization statistics, cooperation across ministries is necessary, and the Statistical Office itself needs to enhance security measures and linkage work."

Furthermore, regarding the recent provision of national income data corresponding to 5% of the population from the National Tax Service to the Statistical Office, he emphasized the need to secure more data. Commissioner Ryu said, "In my opinion, if we could receive at least 60%, or ideally 100%, of the data, we would be able to produce much more meaningful statistics."

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