"Strict Screening" Chills Overseas Training for Local Governments After Jamboree

Ockcheon-gun Selects 20 People with Up to 3 Million Won Support
Despite Unfavorable Views and Strict Training Conditions

Okcheon-gun, Chungbuk Province, has announced a plan for an overseas training program for about 20 public officials this year to enhance their global capabilities by visiting advanced overseas cases. Although 80% of the travel expenses, up to 3 million KRW, are supported, the program is at risk of being canceled due to a lack of applicants.

According to Okcheon-gun on the 20th, no applicants applied during the first registration period from the 17th to the 26th of last month, and the second registration period from the 4th to the 18th of this month also failed to attract applicants.

The Board of Audit and Inspection will conduct a thorough audit regarding the disruption of the Saemangeum World Scout Jamboree. The photo shows the signboard of the World Jamboree Support Team office at the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family in the Government Seoul Office Building, Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the afternoon of the 16th, ahead of the audit.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Since starting overseas training in 2012, Okcheon-gun has never experienced under-enrollment. For several years, the competition rate was around 2 to 1. Officials believe that the stricter screening process has become a burden.

Considering the residents' unfavorable views toward public officials' overseas training, Okcheon-gun has strengthened the screening process. To participate in the themed training, applicants must submit a plan in advance and undergo a comprehensive review of the training's appropriateness, plans to visit local public institutions, and work experience.

Participants must cover 20% of the expenses themselves, submit a report including policy proposals after the training, and hold a presentation session on the training results.

An Okcheon-gun official explained regarding this overseas training, "It seems that the stricter preliminary screening and the requirement to include policy proposals in the presentation session are burdensome," adding, "This appears to reflect the younger generation's preference for free travel, rejecting social scrutiny or burdens, even if it means paying out of pocket."

In the past, public officials' overseas training was more like a trip. They could enjoy traveling with like-minded colleagues with a light heart and then submit a formal report.

In the 2020 national audit, Gangwon Office of Education was criticized after 89 out of 108 overseas field experience themed training reports, accounting for 82%, were found to be inadequate. In 2018, public officials from Jeonju City took a global themed training tour of major tourist sites in the United States, spending 165 million KRW on revitalizing commercial districts, which was also criticized by the city council.

Such criticisms of public officials' overseas training have recently drawn sharp public scrutiny due to the Saemangeum Jamboree event, leading to a tendency among public officials to avoid overseas training.

According to media reports, public officials related to the Jamboree attended 99 overseas business trips over eight years, visiting places unrelated to the training themes. They were found to have visited famous tourist spots in Switzerland and participated in cruise fam tours in China and Shanghai. After returning, some reports were discovered to have plagiarized travel articles, leading to public criticism over suspected inadequate business trips.

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