[K Original Tracker]④ 97% of Overseas Center Heads Are Former Public Officials... ODA Bureaucrat Cartel

Rural Development Administration KOPIA Overseas Offices
92 of 94 Former Directors Appointed from Public Sector
More than Half of KDI ODA Advisors Are Former Ministry of Economy and Finance Officials

Institutions carrying out Official Development Assistance (ODA) work are being used as reemployment channels for retired bureaucrats. While private sector participation in aid projects is active in advanced countries, criticism is raised that Korea is still dominated by "Gwanpia" (bureaucrat + mafia).

According to the 'Career History of KOPIA Overseas Office Chiefs of the Rural Development Administration' submitted to this newspaper through the office of Jeong Hee-yong, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee from the People Power Party, 97.8% (92 out of 94) of the chiefs dispatched to 23 countries were confirmed to be former public officials.

KOPIA is an ODA program that provides consulting as an overseas agricultural technology development project conducted by the Rural Development Administration under the Rural Development Act. KOPIA centers are established and chiefs dispatched to 23 countries in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Candidates for chief must have at least 7 years of experience in agriculture-related fields or at least 3 years of experience in agriculture after obtaining a doctoral degree, and have served less than 4 years as a KOPIA chief.

Among the former chiefs, those who came through the National Institute of Crop Science were the most numerous at 27. Those from the Agricultural Science Institute were the second largest group with 17, followed by 14 who listed the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science as their main background. The Rural Development Administration and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs produced 6 and 2 chiefs respectively. Considering that many public institution career holders are government officials, it is pointed out that the positions are still filled by Gwanpia.

Key Hiring Information Including Major Career Backgrounds of Former Overseas Office Heads Immediately After KOPIA Opening

The Rural Development Administration explained, "Due to the nature of the project, which introduces Korea's advanced agricultural technology and provides education, overseas chiefs must have a good understanding of agricultural technology and basic English skills for diplomacy," adding, "It's not that ordinary people have no opportunity, but there is little interest, so the application rate is low and the selection probability during screening is not high."

The same applies to the Korea Development Institute (KDI) ODA project advisors. KDI carries out grant aid projects that share and transplant Korea's economic development experience, and as of last year, it has a total of 36 'senior advisors' for smooth progress. Among them, 19 (52.7%) are "Mofia" from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance. The only private sector member is Gu Jeong-hyun, Vice President of Kyungdong Engineering, who supports the establishment of public rental housing strategies in Mongolia.

A KDI official explained, "Since the main role was economic policy advice, many senior advisors were from the Ministry of Strategy and Finance," adding, "There was also an aspect of leveraging the network that makes it easier to contact high-ranking government officials in partner countries when Ministry of Strategy and Finance bureaucrats go on local business trips." He also said, "There was a time when economic bureaucrats accounted for more than 60%, but recently the trend has been decreasing."

Unlike Korea, advanced donor countries are expanding private sector participation in the ODA field. The United States, separate from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), creates ODA courses at universities and nonprofit organizations and produces experts. Germany supports private sector ODA project implementation by the government and facilitates personnel coming from companies. In Japan, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is in charge of ODA, but experts from private research institutes support ODA.

This project was supported by the Press Promotion Fund, which is funded by government advertising fees.

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