The 'Public Official Names' Disappearing from the Website... "Concerns Over Reduced Transparency in Ministries"

Ministry of Gender Equality and Family and Ministry of the Interior's Official Documents Lead to Non-Disclosure Measures
"Concerns Over Transparency in Central Government Agencies" Also Raised

The measure to withhold civil servants' names on websites, which began with local governments, has spread to central government ministries. Earlier this year, following incidents where civil servants suffered harm, including death due to malicious complaints, frontline local governments took steps to prevent the exposure of civil servants' real names on their websites. However, there are criticisms that applying this policy to the ministries responsible for overseeing these policies undermines transparency.

According to Asia Economy's confirmation on the 5th, among 19 central ministries, the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Unification have made civil servants' names private on their websites' organizational charts and staff search functions. Instead, extension numbers by assigned tasks are disclosed, and the 'staff search' function is only available through task-based searches.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced the 'Measures to Prevent Malicious Complaints and Strengthen Protection for Civil Servants Handling Complaints' earlier last month, recommending that the level of disclosure of civil servant information on agency websites be adjusted according to circumstances. Although it was not legally mandatory to disclose civil servants' names on websites before, there were guidelines and manuals encouraging such disclosure. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has completed revising the related guidelines.

Following this policy from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family took measures about a week ago to stop disclosing civil servants' names on its website. A Ministry of Gender Equality and Family official explained, "We received an official document last month stating that withholding civil servants' names is possible, and we proceeded with the (website modification) work." In the case of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, there are instances where phone complaints concentrate on specific departments. The Ministry of the Interior and Safety, which proposed the measures, is currently reviewing internally whether to withhold civil servants' names on its own website. However, the Ministry of National Defense, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Ministry of Unification stated that they had withheld individual civil servants' names on their websites for security reasons even before the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's announcement.

However, experts pointed out that it is inappropriate for central ministries, which oversee policies rather than administrative execution, to withhold civil servants' names. Professor Kim Tae-yoon of Hanyang University's Department of Public Administration said, "Withholding civil servants' names involves a conflict between protecting civil servants and administrative transparency. If it concerns civil servants handling complaints at local governments, the weight leans toward protecting civil servants, but applying this to central government civil servants reduces transparency." He added, "The idea that central ministries hide from complaints raised at the policy level is absurd," emphasizing, "It is a ridiculous opportunistic move."

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