Ministry of Food and Drug Safety Awards 125 Million Won in Special Achievement Bonuses to Public Officials

Seven Outstanding Achievements Selected, Including Fire Response and Support for K-Food Exports

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety awarded commendations from the Director and a total prize of 125 million won to employees who delivered outstanding performance.

On the 21st, at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety in Cheongju, Chungbuk, Director Youkyung Oh (center) and employees who achieved special accomplishments are taking a commemorative photo at the '1st Special Achievement Award Ceremony.' Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

On May 21, the Ministry announced that it held the '1st Special Achievement Award Ceremony', where it selected and rewarded seven cases of exceptional accomplishments.

The 'Special Achievement Award System for Public Officials' is a newly introduced government-wide program this year, designed to grant monetary awards to public officials who achieve results that go beyond the ordinary, thereby seeking to innovate the performance reward system in the public sector.

Earlier in January, the Ministry reviewed 85 nominations submitted through both public and internal recommendations in a three-stage process, ultimately selecting the following seven as special achievements: ▲response to the fire at the National Information Resources Service ▲achieving zero (0) food poisoning cases at the 2025 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit ▲enactment of the special law on contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) for biopharmaceuticals ▲listing of all functions as a World Health Organization (WHO) ‘Maturity Level 4’ regulatory authority ▲introduction of the cosmetics safety assessment system ▲leading the establishment of international standards to support K-Food exports ▲strengthening the public supply system for medicines for patients with rare and intractable diseases.

These cases were recognized for their high public impact—minimizing public inconvenience, ensuring food safety at international events, strengthening global regulatory competitiveness, expanding export support, and guaranteeing treatment opportunities for vulnerable groups. In particular, the response to the fire at the National Information Resources Service was highlighted as an example of quickly developing an alternative petition platform (the Food and Drug Safety National Petition Portal) when the original system was down, thereby minimizing inconvenience to the public.

Oh Youkyung, Director of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, stated, "This special achievement award is meaningful as it is the 'first' award issued by the Ministry, implemented according to the government’s philosophy of 'fairness in personnel management and clarity in rewards and discipline.' Going forward, we will continue to generate results in food and drug safety policies and ensure that recognition for special accomplishments is managed transparently and reliably so that the public can truly feel the benefits."

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