[Choi Sangmok Administration 100 Days] The Ministry of Economy and Finance is Undergoing Silent Changes... Employees Say "Work is More Efficient"

Employees have expressed that they are "able to focus on work more efficiently" under the leadership of Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, who will mark his 100th day in office on the 6th. The decision to move the executive meetings, which were previously held on Sundays, to weekdays, as well as allowing even assistant managers to participate in the communication process during policy formulation, received positive evaluations.

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

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According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 4th, since his inauguration in December last year, Deputy Prime Minister Choi has been emphasizing work efficiency to the staff. A representative example is moving the weekly policy review executive meeting from Sunday to Friday. The policy review executive meeting is a weekly meeting where the Deputy Prime Minister, the first and second vice ministers, and first-level officials (such as directors and deputy ministers) review policy announcement schedules and events and discuss matters to be shared between departments and bureaus. A ministry official said, “Although the meetings have been conducted in a casual format without special agenda presentations, holding them every Sunday inevitably imposed a weekend work burden on employees.” Since the meetings were held on Sunday afternoons, departments with many urgent issues had to come to work late Friday night or even on Saturday to organize and report the materials to be shared at the meeting.

An official from the ministry said, “Those preparing the meetings had to work without weekends, collecting reports and setting up the meeting room, which caused accumulated fatigue.” He added, “The biggest change I personally feel since Deputy Prime Minister Choi took office is that we can rest on weekends. This is a significant change in life and makes us feel that work-life balance has greatly improved.”

Since taking office, Deputy Prime Minister Choi has also greatly increased opportunities for assistant managers to participate in the policy reporting process. One example is the use of a work channel on the messenger app ‘Telegram,’ which is used by Ministry of Economy and Finance employees and includes assistant managers. Whenever there is a major issue, a communication channel is created that includes not only the Deputy Prime Minister but also directors, and assistant managers participate in this channel to observe the policy reporting and feedback process.

Another ministry official said, “Matters requiring the Deputy Prime Minister’s decision are reported face-to-face, and questions and reports are frequently exchanged on Telegram. From the Deputy Prime Minister’s perspective, it would be much more efficient to acquire information and give instructions through senior executives, but maintaining this kind of communication provides growth opportunities for employees.” The official added, “We view this as a training opportunity because it allows us to expand our perspective during the policy production process by keeping in mind the viewpoint of the head of the organization who creates the country’s important economic policies.”

Among assistant managers, there is also an opinion that being able to see the Deputy Prime Minister’s detailed instruction process helps strengthen their capabilities. Deputy Prime Minister Choi not only uses online channels but also ensures that assistant managers who have participated even slightly in the policy attend the Deputy Prime Minister’s face-to-face reports directly. This reporting method differs from that of former Deputy Prime Minister Choo Kyung-ho, who mainly received reports from directors or higher-level executives. Assistant Manager A said, “There is a big difference between receiving a summarized report only from the director and understanding the entire reporting process and overall picture. When you see and hear what issues the Deputy Prime Minister checked and questioned directly, you clearly understand which parts to focus on and prepare for in your work.”

The intention to avoid excessive responses to the media is also regarded internally as a positive change. Assistant Manager B said, “I feel a leadership change that tries not to respond too sensitively to various problems raised by the media or multiple articles,” and evaluated, “This allows us to focus more on the essence of our work.”

However, there were also opinions that no change was felt. Assistant Manager C said, “Even when the policy review executive meetings were held on weekends, due to the nature of our department (which does not have a high work intensity), weekends were well preserved,” and added, “I do not feel significant changes from the leadership change and have had almost no experience meeting the Deputy Prime Minister face-to-face.”

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