Kwon Soonki, Gyeongnam Superintendent Candidate, "Transparent Personnel, Streamlined Administration"

Kwon Soonki, a preliminary candidate for Superintendent of Education of Gyeongnam Province, is accelerating his policy campaign by presenting tailored pledges aimed at strengthening transparency in public personnel appointments and reducing the administrative burden at schools. This is a "two-track reform" targeting both chronic distrust in personnel decisions and the administrative burden of recruitment at schools.

On April 27, Candidate Kwon announced pledges centered on innovation in local government personnel management and establishing a support system for educational government employees, stating, "Building a predictable personnel system is the starting point for restoring organizational trust."

Sungki Kwon, candidate for Superintendent of Education in Gyeongnam.
Photo by Sungki Kwon

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The central axis of this pledge is to establish clear principles for the local government personnel system. The plan is to introduce objective evaluation indicators that quantify work performance, career experience, and work responsibility. Additionally, those who handle demanding or avoided duties will be awarded clear additional points, thereby strengthening the compensation system.

To address concerns within the public service sector, Candidate Kwon plans to introduce these evaluation indicators gradually, based on existing personnel criteria, while avoiding abrupt institutional changes.

In addition, the criteria and point assignment methods will be disclosed in advance, and a so-called "Personnel After-Service (AS) System" will be introduced, allowing individuals to request explanations for the results.

The plan also includes establishing a personnel management principle focused on local assignments to minimize unnecessary long-distance transfers, aiming to ensure both stability in living and continuity in work. This is intended to make the entire personnel process more transparent and structurally resolve distrust.

Candidate Kwon stated, "Distrust arising from personnel decisions is a key factor undermining organizational competitiveness," adding, "I will create a system in which public servants who work diligently are fairly evaluated."

Measures to reduce the burden on school sites were also proposed. To address the current situation where schools must directly find substitute staff when there is a vacancy among educational government employees, Kwon pledged to establish a "permanent substitute personnel pool" at the education office level.

This system will operate in such a way that, when a school has a vacancy for more than three days, it can request support from the education office, and dedicated personnel will be dispatched immediately. A standardized manual will also be provided to ensure that substitute staff can begin work immediately upon placement.

Additionally, measures are included to improve the system so that schools can receive the maximum possible vacation compensation payment, realistically reflecting the workload of school administrative offices. The aim is to boost morale on the ground by establishing a compensation system for repetitive and highly responsible administrative work.

Candidate Kwon expects this pledge to not only improve administrative efficiency but also bring about improvements in the labor environment. This includes enabling more flexible use of annual and sick leave, as well as minimizing gaps in meal service and administrative services.

He emphasized, "Policies that do not reflect reality end up as mere desk work. I will reduce administrative burden and enhance transparency to create an environment where both public servants and educational government employees can work with pride."

Meanwhile, attention is being paid to how the education sector and the public service community will respond to these pledges, as they simultaneously target both restoring trust in personnel decisions and supporting schools on the ground.

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