Vice Minister of Economy and Finance: "Essential Safety Personnel Excluded from Public Institution Staff Reduction Targets"

Choi Sang-dae, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, is presiding over the 'Emergency Safety Inspection Meeting for Public Institutions' held on the 10th at the Korea Eximbank in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. (Photo by Ministry of Strategy and Finance)

The government has decided to exclude safety personnel from the headcount reduction targets for public institutions.

On the afternoon of the 10th, Choi Sang-dae, Vice Minister of Strategy and Finance, announced this at the "Emergency Safety Inspection Meeting for Public Institutions" held at the Export-Import Bank of Korea in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul. Representatives from 10 major public institutions, including Korea Railroad Corporation, Incheon International Airport Corporation, Korea Expressway Corporation, and Korea Electric Power Corporation, attended the meeting.

This meeting was organized to discuss improvement directions related to recent safety accidents occurring in roads, railways, and airports, and to inspect the current status of safety management at major public institutions.

Vice Minister Choi emphasized, "Public institutions are frontline agencies implementing government policies and provide public services closely connected to citizens' lives. Even the smallest safety issue, if neglected, can have a huge impact on the lives of the people," adding, "Please concentrate all efforts with the attitude of ultimately being responsible for public safety."

He further explained, "When reviewing the public institution innovation plans, essential safety personnel will be excluded from reduction targets," and "We will actively consider reallocating personnel saved in other areas under the innovation plans to safety management personnel."

The government is currently promoting the "Public Institution Innovation Guidelines," which include headcount reduction measures, and this statement is interpreted to mean that safety management personnel will not be adjusted.

In the future, the government also plans to consider reflecting management efforts such as the safety management grading system evaluation results of each institution during the management evaluation of public institutions.

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