Expansion of Ministerial Appointment Authority... Yoon Administration's Full-Scale Promotion of the 'Responsible Minister System'

Ministry of Personnel Management Announces 'Comprehensive Plan to Enhance Autonomy in Ministry Personnel Affairs'... Leveraging Ministry Characteristics and Expanding Autonomy

Josungju, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Management, is giving a briefing on the "Comprehensive Plan to Enhance Autonomy in Departmental Personnel Affairs" at the Government Sejong Complex on the 14th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The personnel authority of ministers will be significantly expanded. Ministers will have the authority not only to transfer and promote affiliated public officials but also to hire individuals aged 60 or older when appointing special service positions, based on the minister's discretion. This move aims to strengthen the responsible minister system by removing personnel regulations that act as sandbags, enabling "right person, right place, right time" personnel management.

On the 14th, the Ministry of Personnel Innovation announced that it has established a "Comprehensive Plan to Enhance Departmental Personnel Autonomy" containing these measures to realize the Yoon Seok-yeol administration's national agenda of a "government that works well."

The plan includes a total of 47 tasks across four areas: ▲Expansion of personnel exceptions (9 items) ▲Expansion of the scope of personnel authority of affiliated ministers (18 items) ▲Abolition or relaxation of consultation and notification (10 items) ▲Relaxation of guidelines and standards (10 items). The most notable aspect is the strengthening of ministers' personnel authority to firmly establish the Yoon administration's responsible minister system. By expanding the scope of affiliated ministers' personnel authority, each department minister can swiftly assign and promote suitable candidates based on their judgment. Strengthening hiring authority allows ministers to tighten or relax qualifications such as certifications, degrees, and experience applied to career recruitment according to the department's situation and hiring environment.

Additionally, the requirement for ministers to consult with the head of the Ministry of Personnel Innovation when changing the appointment order of grade 5 promotion candidates from the existing list ranking has been removed. The experience requirements after obtaining a degree for hiring career employees have also been relaxed.

When appointing special service positions similar to secretaries or secretary-level posts, ministers can hire individuals without age limits at their discretion without consulting the Ministry of Personnel Innovation. The mandatory assignment period for career employees transferred to similar positions has been shortened from the previous 4?5 years to 2 years.

By expanding personnel exceptions, the areas where departments can flexibly apply personnel management will also increase. For matters requiring prompt handling in cases where regulations are absent or unclear, the Ministry of Personnel Innovation plans to use the Active Administration Committee to determine operational directions. Furthermore, to promote the use of annual leave and flexible working hours for public officials, if these are planned sufficiently in advance, public officials will be able to approve their own leave or flexible work without prior approval from their department head, which was previously mandatory.

Cho Sung-joo, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Personnel Innovation, said, "This is to ensure that personnel management can be conducted by placing the right talent in the right position at the right time under the autonomous judgment and responsibility of each department minister." He added, "We will continue to strive to expand departmental personnel autonomy and implement the responsible minister system through this."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Personnel Innovation plans to guide appropriate personnel management plans aligned with legal revisions so that each department can effectively utilize the "Comprehensive Plan to Enhance Departmental Personnel Autonomy." After completing the implementation of the 2023 comprehensive plan, a practical personnel management manual for public officials will be published for reference by personnel officers in each department.

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