Transition Team to Reduce Unnecessary and Underperforming Plant Committees... "Will Conduct Annual Comprehensive Surveys"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki-min Lee] The Presidential Transition Committee announced on the 19th that it will reduce so-called 'plant committees'?government and local government committees that are unnecessary or have poor meeting performance.

Park Soon-ae, a member of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Subcommittee of the Transition Committee, held a briefing at a press conference in Tongui-dong, Seoul, on the morning of the same day, stating, "We have prepared a plan to actively consolidate committees that cause budget waste or administrative distrust due to non-holding of meetings or formal operations, and to reorganize committees so that they operate substantively."

According to the Transition Committee, during the five years of the Moon Jae-in administration, the number of committees under administrative agencies increased from 558 to 526, and committees under local governments also increased by 4,571, from 23,500 at the end of 2017 to 28,071 at the end of 2020. Among these, as of 2020, 25.6% of committees had never held a meeting even once a year.

The Transition Committee plans to, in principle, consolidate committees that have not been formed for a long time or have extremely poor operational performance, while promoting comprehensive reorganization annually through batch legislation for committees requiring legal amendments for abolition or integration. Committee member Park said, "We will form a joint diagnosis team of public and private sectors to comprehensively assess operational status, re-examine the necessity of committee existence from the ground up, and specifically establish a committee reorganization plan. We will also actively encourage and support local government committees to consolidate those with no or poor performance through annual full surveys."

In particular, Park emphasized, "Committees under the President or the Prime Minister will be adjusted to committees under each ministry so that committees contribute to responsible policy implementation centered on the Cabinet. Additionally, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will regularly inspect the operational status and reorganization progress of committees by ministry, report the results to the Cabinet meeting, and transparently disclose them to the public to ensure substantive committee operation." However, when asked whether the private crisis response organization under the Prime Minister's Office, pledged by President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, would be moved under ministries, Park replied, "The committee pledged by President-elect Yoon will be newly established, and if there is a need for committee roles in the meantime, similar committees will be assigned those functions in a two-track operation."

Regarding the abolition of presidential committees such as the Autonomy Development Committee and the Balance Committee, Park said, "These committees have a fairly long history and significant achievements. Although discussions on integrating the two committees have not taken place, if it is concluded that synergy can be achieved through their integration, they cannot be excluded from consideration."

Regarding the consolidation or abolition of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Jobs, Park responded, "The Jobs Committee does not meet the criteria for consolidation, but we plan to review its purpose and reorganize it, including applying a sunset clause if it does not align with our national agenda."

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