'Public Officials Spending Tax Money on Overseas Training'... Gangwon-do Strengthens System Improvement and Management

2023 Overseas Long-Term Training Operation Plan Established
Overseas Training for Grade 5-7 Public Officials... Duration Shortened, Integrated, and Unified

Gangwon Provincial Government

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Gangwon Province has proposed improvements related to the overseas training system for public officials, which recently faced issues such as plagiarism.

On the 14th, Gangwon Province announced, "We have established the 2023 overseas long-term training operation plan reflecting overall improvements from the selection process to post-management of the overseas long-term training system."

Until now, Grade 5 public officials have undergone overseas training operated independently by the province on a one-year basis, while Grade 6 and 7 officials have participated in commissioned training every two years, with domestic training in the first year followed by one year of overseas training in the second year.

Starting next year, the plan includes ▲integrated operation of overseas training for Grades 5 to 7 ▲strengthening of candidate selection criteria ▲improvement of overseas training operation processes ▲implementation of training result report evaluations.

First, the training period for Grade 6 and 7 officials will be shortened and integrated to one year, the same as Grade 5, to operate a one-year course, aiming to enhance fairness by rank and training efficiency.

To improve the outcomes and substance of overseas training, candidates’ training plans will be thoroughly reviewed, and language proficiency standards will be strengthened for selection.

Applicants will receive comprehensive consulting on their overall training plans from experts, and the suitability of training tasks and the possibility of reflecting them in provincial administration will be comprehensively evaluated by the heads of relevant departments, followed by selection through committee deliberation.

In particular, the weighting of language test scores will be increased to favor candidates with high language proficiency scores by improving the selection process.

The current language test (TOEIC) minimum score is 675 points. The province plans to consider raising the minimum score to 700 points in the future.

The annual training dispatch period for public officials of Grade 5 and above (July to June of the following year) will also be adjusted to January through December to reduce disadvantages in performance evaluations of trainees.

To prevent plagiarism, post-management will be strengthened by requiring mandatory submission of plagiarism check results when submitting final reports.

All returning overseas trainees will be evaluated on the timing of report submission, plagiarism status, achievement of training plans, and applicability to provincial administration, and will be assigned to departments related to their training tasks after completion.

Reflecting these improvements, the province plans to select 15 overseas training candidates (Grades 5 to 7 public officials) next year.

Kim Myung-seon, Deputy Governor, stated, "We will continue to improve and supplement the overseas long-term training system to achieve its intended outcomes."

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