Recruitment Announcement for 6 New Senior Specialist Positions (Open Type No.4) Following Personnel Authority Independence at Seoul Metropolitan Council

Application period from February 28 to March 7, interviews in March, and successful candidates announced in April... First recruitment after local council personnel authority independence, planning to select qualified talents based on law and principles

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] The Seoul Metropolitan Council (Chairman Kim In-ho) has announced a new recruitment notice for Senior Specialist (Open Position No. 4) and is proceeding with the process. This is the first announcement made since the enforcement of the revised Local Autonomy Act ('22.1.13), which granted independent personnel authority to local councils.

The new recruitment targets a total of six positions: Senior Specialist roles in the Operations, Environment and Water Resources, Urban Safety and Construction, Transportation, Education, and Budget and Special Committee Specialist Offices. Applications will be accepted from February 28 to March 7, followed by document screening and interviews in March, with the final successful candidates to be announced in April.

The Local Autonomy Act, enforced on January 13, 2020, focuses on expanding resident autonomy including the residents' ordinance proposal system and strengthening the autonomy of local councils by granting independent personnel authority to council secretariats.

Regarding the independence of personnel authority, the Seoul Metropolitan Council has operated the 'Personnel Authority Independence Task Force' composed of Seoul council members and experts since February 2021 to establish autonomous personnel and organizational operation plans.

The Personnel Authority Independence Task Force reviewed and prepared institutional measures such as the enactment and revision of various ordinances and regulations necessary for the independence of council personnel authority, set the direction for future personnel operations, and reported to the chairman. As part of this, in 2021, discussions were held regarding the status of eight Senior Specialists in Open Position No. 4 whose two-year contracts were expiring. On April 30, 2021, the Work Performance Evaluation Committee, which included external experts, decided to temporarily extend contracts until January 2022, when the council secretariat’s personnel authority would become independent. This decision was notified to and approved by the Seoul Personnel Committee.

After one contract extension, with the contract expiration approaching in January 2022, on December 30, 2021, the Work Performance Evaluation Committee decided to proceed with new recruitment for the Senior Specialist positions in line with the intent of personnel authority independence, rather than renewing contracts. However, to allow the incumbents to prepare for the upcoming process and to prevent work gaps during recruitment, the committee reviewed and approved a further contract extension until April 30, 2022. This was ratified by the newly established Seoul Metropolitan Council Personnel Committee following personnel authority independence.

For reference, Article 21-4 (Working Period of Fixed-Term Public Officials) Paragraph 1 Subparagraph 4 of the Local Public Officials Appointment Decree stipulates that “the working period of fixed-term public officials shall be within five years as necessary for the project.” Additionally, Article 9 Paragraph 1 of the Regulations on the Operation of Open Positions and Public Recruitment Positions in Local Governments states that “the appointment period for public officials appointed to open positions shall be determined by the appointing authority within five years, but must be at least two years.”

Therefore, the first two years of the Grade 4 open fixed-term position are guaranteed, but thereafter, contracts may be freely extended up to a maximum of three additional years only if work performance is excellent.

The reason why the Senior Specialists’ contracts had to be extended in increments of several months from the contract expiration in 2021 was due to several factors. At that time, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety was in the process of amending the enforcement decree of the Local Autonomy Act and the Local Public Officials Act as follow-up legislation related to personnel authority independence. The Seoul Metropolitan Council was continuously submitting opinions to the Ministry regarding various issues that could arise after personnel authority independence, resulting in uncertainties about organizational and personnel operations after January.

Specifically, ▲ local councils nationwide were gathering opinions and requesting the establishment of Grade 2 and 3 positions for stable organizational operation (currently, the Seoul Metropolitan Council structure has only one Grade 1 position directly above Grade 4 positions), ▲ it was unclear whether the council could independently apply the total personnel budget (currently, the Seoul Metropolitan Council applies the total personnel budget jointly with the Seoul city government; independent application would allow securing more positions by appointing general public officials instead of fixed-term officials), and ▲ it was necessary to confirm whether the council could independently operate open positions at about 10% of total positions (currently, the Seoul Metropolitan Council has 14 open positions designated together with Seoul city personnel, but if operated independently, only two would be possible).

In other words, contrary to some media reports, the extension of existing Senior Specialists’ contracts in several-month increments was an unavoidable measure taken to compensate for legislative ambiguities.

Also, the newly announced recruitment is open to the existing Senior Specialists as well, so anyone can freely apply and receive a fair recruitment evaluation.

Senior Specialists play an important role in supporting council members’ legislative activities by reviewing and reporting on ordinances, budgets, petitions, and other matters within the jurisdiction of standing committees, collecting data, conducting investigations and research, and assisting in council proceedings.

Chairman Kim In-ho of the Seoul Metropolitan Council explained, “Although the contract extensions of existing staff in several-month increments might be misunderstood externally, it was an unavoidable method chosen to minimize any possible damage during the introduction and stabilization of the new system.”

He added, “Since this is the first recruitment after the independence of local council personnel authority, we will pay special attention to transparency and fairness in the talent recruitment process. I have instructed to do our best to contribute to strengthening the capacity of local councils through more professional and efficient legislative support by selecting excellent talents.”

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