Ulsan-Originated Personnel Innovation to Continue Next Year

Encouraging Reading Among Low-Rank Public Officials, Focusing on Creating a Birth-Friendly Atmosphere, Establishing 'Dedicated Public Officials for Private Companies'

Nation's First Special Promotion for Public Officials with Five Children, Saving 19 Billion Won in Labor Costs through Staff Freeze and Reduction

Ulsan City’s personnel and administrative innovations carried out throughout this year are creating significant waves of change not only within the public sector and the local economy but also nationwide.

Since his inauguration, Kim Doo-gyeom, mayor of Ulsan in the 8th term of direct elections, has emphasized establishing an efficient and smart small-scale organizational culture under the slogan “Dream City, Ulsan,” stating that “the new changes for Ulsan’s future originate from innovation within the public sector.”

Based on this policy direction, Ulsan City in the 8th term of direct elections has been promoting bold and unprecedented policies known as Ulsan-originated administrative innovations to lay the foundation for “innovation and change that will transform Ulsan’s next 100 years.”

Representative examples include ▲the nation’s first public-private personnel exchange with HD Hyundai Heavy Industries ▲establishment of a dedicated department for on-site corporate support ▲nation’s first special promotion for firefighters with five children ▲freezing the number of public officials and breaking down job series for competency-based personnel placement ▲and promoting consolidation for public institution efficiency.

First, the nation’s first public-private personnel exchange between Ulsan City and HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, initiated earlier this year, has generated synergistic effects from the early stages.

Kim Kyu-deok, the newly appointed director of the Facilities Corporation who previously served as an executive director at HD Hyundai Heavy Industries, alleviated labor-management conflicts within six months of his appointment by declaring a joint labor-management statement.

He also introduced a competency-based appointment system and infused corporate mindsets into local public enterprises, thereby enhancing the efficiency and competitiveness of public institution operations.

Ulsan City has dispatched senior officials at the level of deputy director to the company to provide customized administrative services and assist various projects aimed at improving the competitiveness of the shipbuilding industry, including related legal revisions and regulatory improvements.

This public-private personnel exchange by Ulsan City has attracted significant government attention as a representative case of “breaking down administrative barriers.” It notably influenced the strategic personnel exchange of 24 director-level positions between central government ministries in the first half of this year.

Additionally, as a linked project to the public-private personnel exchange, Ulsan City successfully conducted the “Ulsan City-Local Companies Mutual Understanding Education” four times from April to September, collaborating with eight local companies to nurture talent that will lead Ulsan’s transformation.

In the early stage of the 8th term of direct elections in September 2022, the establishment of a “dedicated organization for on-site corporate support and dispatch of dedicated public officials,” starting with support for the construction of Hyundai Motor’s new electric vehicle factory, has also yielded significant results.

In particular, the construction period for the Hyundai Motor new factory, which typically takes over three years for permits and approvals, was shortened to 10 months. Considering that the factory produces 200,000 electric vehicles annually, this two-year reduction is expected to generate an economic effect of approximately 30 trillion won.

Furthermore, dedicated consulting support for large-scale investment projects by companies such as S-Oil, Samsung SDI, and Korea Zinc has dramatically shortened the permit period for new factories and removed obstacles to corporate investment through regulatory improvements and legal amendments addressing corporate issues.

Based on Ulsan City’s corporate support cases, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety revised the local government personnel system operation guidelines in June this year and established the institutional basis for “dedicated public officials for private companies.”

Alongside this, Ulsan City was selected and introduced as a model case of regulatory improvement and local innovation hosted by central government ministries, winning the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s “2023 Local Regulatory Innovation Best Practice Competition Grand Prize” and being recognized as an “Excellent Case” at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy’s “1st Central-Local Policy Council for the Shipbuilding Industry.”

Through such pro-business administration via administrative innovation, Ulsan City has achieved remarkable results within two years of the 8th term of direct elections, attracting approximately 23 trillion won in corporate investment and creating 10,000 jobs.

Ulsan City has also tackled the low birthrate issue with initiatives such as the nation’s first special promotion for firefighters with five children.

In October, Ulsan City became the first in the nation to grant special promotions and commendations as exemplary public officials to firefighters raising five children.

This is the first case nationwide of special promotion for raising multiple children, reflecting Ulsan City’s strong commitment to overcoming the low birthrate issue by encouraging employees with many children.

To foster a social atmosphere that respects multi-child families, Ulsan City plans to provide various personnel benefits such as selecting exemplary public officials among employees with multiple children and awarding additional points in performance evaluations, promotions, and recruitment.

Ulsan City also led personnel innovation through freezing the number of public officials and breaking down job series for personnel placement.

Since the early stage of the 8th term of direct elections in 2022, despite increases in project budgets, the city has frozen the number of public officials in line with the government’s policy of “small and efficient government,” striving to improve work efficiency and organizational soundness without additional personnel increases, reorganizing into a strong small-scale organization.

Currently, Ulsan City has a total of 3,469 public officials, operating efficiently with far fewer personnel than Gwangju’s 4,197 and Daejeon’s 4,234, which have similar population sizes. Through freezing the number of officials, reducing current staff, and reallocating personnel, the city has significantly lowered the personnel cost ratio, achieving an annual savings effect of about 19 billion won.

In particular, Ulsan City enacted the “Regulations on the Recruitment of Public Officials and Fixed-term Workers of Ulsan City” to enhance fairness and transparency in hiring non-public officials such as public workers and fixed-term workers. It has also minimized new hires of public workers, which had been increasing annually, reducing their number from 288 last year to 277 this year through reallocation of duties, contributing to efficient local government realization.

Breaking away from the fixed notion of assigning positions based on job series, the city conducted personnel reassignments that dismantled the boundaries between administrative and technical positions for a total of 106 positions?62 last year and 44 this year?reallocating personnel appropriately, boosting competition and vitality within the public sector, and maximizing individual public officials’ capabilities and efficiency.

Following the government’s direction for local public institution innovation in 2022, Ulsan City conducted a study on “Public Institution Management Efficiency Measures” through the Ulsan Institute. Based on this, it consolidated public institutions with similar and overlapping functions, reducing the total number from 13 to 9.

By consolidating public institutions with similar and overlapping functions, the city eliminated administrative waste and inefficiency, generating an annual budget saving of about 1.6 billion won. The saved budget was actively invested and utilized in citizen welfare projects to enhance citizen convenience and revitalize the local economy.

In the upcoming Year of the Black Rabbit, Ulsan City plans to newly implement various morale-boosting measures to encourage long-term service among low-ranking public officials and improve working conditions and treatment for frontline public officials.

The main tasks include ▲enhancing job satisfaction for low-ranking public officials ▲strengthening support for childbirth and childcare in the public sector ▲and fostering a work culture that values good performance.

First, the city will focus on boosting morale so that low-ranking public officials can continue to have rewarding public service careers.

Public officials at grade 6 or below, who handle key municipal policies, chronic complaints, and frequent emergency duties, will receive a monthly important duty allowance of 100,000 won. This allowance is one of the special duty allowances stipulated by law, selected for those responsible for highly important and accountable tasks, expected to improve job satisfaction and the quality of public services.

Additionally, the city will increase self-development leave days for low-ranking public officials with less than 10 years of service, ensuring opportunities for rest and recharging as a policy consideration.

Alongside this, to facilitate quick adaptation to public service life for newly appointed or transferred public officials in Ulsan City and its districts, the city will activate a mentor-mentee system and produce and distribute organizational guides.

In line with the government’s efforts to overcome the low birthrate crisis, childbirth benefits and childcare support will be strengthened.

According to the 2025 local government budget formulation and operation standards, employees who give birth will receive childbirth congratulatory money as welfare points: 1 million won for the first child, 2 million won for the second, and 3 million won for the third and subsequent children.

To improve infant care environments, a zero-year-old class will be established in the workplace daycare center, and the organizational culture will be reformed so that public officials raising children can comfortably use childcare time, family care leave, and other special leaves without hesitation.

To enhance work motivation through fair compensation and create a workplace atmosphere where employees enjoy working, welfare levels will be improved.

Public officials mobilized on holidays for various events and festivals will receive event dispatch expenses proportional to their working hours, up to a maximum of 120,000 won per day. The city also plans to adjust the exam duty allowance, which has been frozen for 14 years despite the responsibility required of public official exam staff.

When family or social events occur, the city will extend condolence leave days to provide sufficient mourning time before returning to work. To this end, Ulsan City is pursuing amendments to the Public Officials Service Ordinance, which will include increasing self-development leave from 3 to 5 days annually and expanding condolence leave from 1 to 3 days for the death of the employee’s or spouse’s siblings and their spouses.

Additionally, various welfare projects such as summer vacation expenses for employees, overseas training for exemplary union members, funeral services, and employee clubs will receive budget increases reflecting inflation rates and private sector support levels to provide tailored support.

An official from Ulsan City stated, “We will continue to expand internal administrative innovation and change and build a sustainable economic ecosystem through cooperation with various companies. Through this, we will lay the foundation for Ulsan’s next 100 years of leap forward and do our best to create a happy ‘Dream City, Ulsan’ for our citizens.”

Ulsan City Hall.

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