Is a Personnel Shake-up Wind Blowing for Seoul City Council Senior Specialist with an Annual Salary of 100 Million Won?

After the Seoul Metropolitan Council's personnel authority independence, a re-application process is likely for six senior expert committee members with terms over two years to revitalize the organization... Concerns arise over possible re-application failures among these senior expert committee members.

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] It appears that the personnel renewal of senior expert committee members supporting the legislative activities of Seoul City Council members has begun.

With the revision of the Local Autonomy Act guaranteeing the chairperson's personnel authority over council staff, the Seoul City Council is reportedly proceeding with the reappointment process for senior experts who have worked for about 20 to 30 years and have become complacent.

Until now, senior expert committee members, who are fixed-term public officials of the Seoul City Council, have worked under a two-year term guarantee and a reappointment contract system within three years.

According to this practice, among the nine senior expert committee members whose two-year contracts expired last year, three?including those who moved to the Chungnam Provincial Council and Gangnam District Council and one retiree?were excluded, and six extended their second contracts until April 30.

As a result, these six members are now in a position where they must compete with new prospective candidates through a re-application process scheduled for May 1.

Accordingly, some senior expert committee members are reportedly seriously considering their future positions due to the instability of their status.

However, the Seoul City Council explained that Article 21-4, Paragraph 1, Subparagraph 4 of the Local Public Officials Appointment Decree stipulates that "the working period of fixed-term public officials shall be the period necessary to carry out the relevant project within a range of five years."

It also added that Article 9, Paragraph 1 of the Regulations on the Operation of Open Positions and Public Recruitment Positions of Local Governments states, "The appointment period of public officials appointed to open positions shall be determined by the appointing authority within a range of five years, but must be at least two years."

A Seoul City Council official stated, "In the case of open public officials, the appointment period is guaranteed only for a minimum of two years, and it does not guarantee an additional three years of appointment."

Furthermore, the official explained, "The initial two years guarantee the term, but if the work performance is excellent, the appointing authority has the discretion to set an appropriate period within three years to extend the appointment."

They also stated, "Before the independence of personnel authority of the City Council (January 13, 2022), the recruitment of senior expert committee members (open positions) was conducted by Seoul City, but after the independence of personnel authority, the Seoul City Council has been responsible for recruitment. The recruitment process will be conducted through fair procedures based on all relevant laws and principles."

Finally, the official added, "In the future, the Seoul City Council will conduct research on opinions from related organizations and on organizational and staffing improvement plans, and will improve various issues in the operation of the City Council Secretariat."

As the Seoul City Council clearly announced the policy of reapplying for senior expert committee members, it is expected to proceed with personnel renewal for those who have worked for decades and fallen into complacency, causing dissatisfaction among council members.

A Seoul City Council official said, "There is honestly a part where senior expert committee members, who have worked longer than council members who change every four years due to the lack of personnel authority, have not properly assisted the council members," and predicted, "Now that the council has secured personnel authority, personnel renewal is expected."

Another City Council official pointed out, "If the seniors are replaced, the rotation of council staff will also take place, which clearly can bring vitality to the organization."

Meanwhile, the Seoul City Council senior expert committee member corresponds to grade 4 (equivalent to Seoul City section chief level), and considering that contract employees earn significantly more than regular public officials, their annual salary is known to be around 100 million KRW.

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