Ahn Cheol-soo: "Halving the Blue House Secretariat Size, Introducing a Responsible Prime Minister System"

Next Government's Motto: 'Clean Cheongwadae, Competent Government'
"If I Fail to Gain 50% Public Trust by Midterm, I Will Resign"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] Ahn Cheol-soo, the presidential candidate of the People’s Party, promised to reduce the size of the Blue House Secretariat by half and introduce a responsible prime minister system. He also pledged to implement structural reforms in the central government and public sector immediately upon taking office and to have the president undergo a trust evaluation in the middle of the term.

On the 20th, at a debate hosted by the Korean Association for Public Administration titled "Next Government Operation, Listening to Presidential Candidates," Ahn stated, "If elected, the motto of the next government I form will be a clean Blue House and a competent government."

He emphasized that to create a "clean Blue House," the president and their family must be clean. Ahn said, "Over the past four and a half years, this administration has even coined the term 'naeronambul' (double standards), blatantly exposing how widespread unfairness, privileges, loopholes, and connections with vested interests are in our society. The president and their family must be clean to prevent collusion with vested interests, to keep the Blue House and public office clean, and to boldly carry out reforms that overcome resistance from vested interests."

He also saw the need for structural reform of the Blue House. Ahn explained, "Currently, the Blue House Secretariat has 443 staff members and a budget of 89.9 billion won. This must be cut in half. A smaller Blue House can create a cleaner Blue House."

He then stated that a responsible prime minister system (responsible minister system) is necessary to create a "competent government." This system divides authority and responsibility between the prime minister and ministers, allowing the president to focus on national strategic tasks such as diplomacy and security. Accordingly, he said he would make the Cabinet meeting the center of state administration instead of the Senior Secretary meeting.

Ahn said he would reduce the size of government and public institution personnel to "slim down and transform into a smart, efficient government organization." He criticized, "This administration, upon taking office, promised to increase the number of public officials by 170,000 and has increased public officials by more than 100,000 so far, and the inefficiency and burden have been entirely borne by the people."

Ahn pledged to establish a culture of "responsible politics" if he becomes president in the next government. To this end, he promised to undergo a "presidential re-evaluation" in the middle of his term. "If, after being elected, I fail to gain more than 50% public trust through an investigation method agreed upon by both ruling and opposition parties at midterm, I will step down cleanly," he said. "If you do not have this level of confidence, you should not run as a presidential candidate."

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