Transition Team "Pushing for Freeze on Civil Servant Quotas... Will Diagnose Government Organization and Reallocate Personnel"

Park Soon-ae, a member of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Subcommittee of the Presidential Transition Committee, is briefing on the working public service society at the Transition Committee press conference hall in Tongui-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

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[Asia Economy Reporters Bomryeong Geum, Gimin Lee] The Presidential Transition Committee announced on the 27th that it has decided not to increase the number of public officials any further by diagnosing the government organization and promoting rational organization and personnel management.

Park Sunae, a member of the Political, Judicial, and Administrative Subcommittee of the Transition Committee, held a briefing at the Transition Committee press conference hall in Tongui-dong, Seoul, in the morning and said, "This is to realize a government that serves the people well."

The Transition Committee diagnosed that although the current government increased the number of public officials the most among past administrations, it has caused several problems such as a sharp rise in personnel expenses and pension burdens, and inefficiencies due to large government operations. According to the Transition Committee, the number of public officials increased from 978,000 during the Roh Moo-hyun administration to 1,032,000 during the Park Geun-hye administration, an increase of 54,000, but it increased by 129,000 during the Moon Jae-in administration alone (1,161,000).

The Transition Committee plans to maintain the current number of public officials by strictly evaluating new personnel demand and reallocating existing personnel for rational government organization management. Park said, "We will evaluate the necessity of new personnel and the possibility of reallocating existing personnel through scientific organization and personnel analysis using data, and encourage each agency to autonomously reallocate and utilize existing personnel," adding, "Nevertheless, if necessary, we plan to minimally reinforce personnel only in essential areas such as urgent current demands, introduction of new facilities and equipment, and enactment or revision of laws."

In addition, a comprehensive diagnosis of government functions and personnel operations will be conducted. Although government personnel have increased quantitatively and rapidly so far, a systematic and comprehensive diagnosis is needed to determine whether the current public officials are appropriately placed, demonstrating capabilities that meet public expectations, and accurately providing the services and policies desired by the people.

Regarding this, Park emphasized, "With the launch of the new government, we will form a joint public-private 'Government Organization Diagnosis Team' composed of government, academia, and field experts to conduct organizational diagnoses by sector and ministry, actively identifying declining or overlapping functions," and added, "Based on the diagnosis results, we plan to actively reflect the reorganization of unnecessary functions and reallocate personnel to core areas such as national tasks in government organization management."

On the relationship between the Moon Jae-in administration’s increase in public officials and youth employment resolution, Park rebutted, "It is true that the number of public officials and public institution staff increased during the Moon Jae-in administration, but the part that increased significantly compared to existing personnel was in firefighting, and since firefighting was converted to a national position, it is difficult to say that there were more job opportunities for the MZ generation as expected." He continued, "This year, 23,000 will retire, and new personnel from the MZ generation will fill those positions, so opportunities for the MZ generation will not be reduced. However, the basic principle is to reallocate existing organizations."

When asked by reporters how overlapping parts were identified throughout the organization, Park said, "Since the participatory government diagnosed all ministries’ government organizations, there has been no diagnosis until now. Twenty years have passed, and similar functions may have been absorbed," and added, "According to the company that diagnosed the participatory government, there are dormant tasks that have not been performed at all for 3 to 5 years."

He also emphasized, "Among the recent work plans received, looking at the Digital Platform Government, plans to implement digital platforms have been submitted by 12 ministries," and added, "It is expected that similar projects will proceed through compartmentalization even in the existing government."

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