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| The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's English website shows former Minister Chung Seung as the incumbent chief in this image captured Monday morning. Chung's successor took office one month ago, but the ministry has failed to update the site with his successor's picture and information. / Korea Times file |
By Park Si-soo
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety's (MFDS) English website is so poorly managed that it even failed to replace the name and image of its resigned minister.
Former Minister Chung Seung was posted as the incumbent chief even one month after his successor took office.
A photo of a smiling Chung greets visitors on the front page with a lengthy biography attached as of Monday morning, misleading visitors into believing that the food and drug regulator is under his control.
The ministry's incumbent leader is Kim Seung-hee, who took office on April 7. Kim is introduced as the minister on the Korean-language website.
This reflects the ministry's lack of attention and care to its English website, which draws numerous foreign visitors who are looking for up-to-date information about Korea's food and drug-related policies and regulations.
An English-written notice on a revised medical devices act posted on June 28, 2013, has been read more than 23,250 times.
A bigger problem is that officials of the ministry's public relations department have been aware of this, but have done nothing so far. Critics say this constitutes a negligence of duty.
"We are very sorry for failing to update the English website on time," Moon Jung-seok, a ministry spokesman, told The Korea Times. "We have been aware of this. But we were unable to update the information because we have been too busy."
Critics said all government bodies have their own systematic guidelines on how to update their websites ― both Korean and English ― when they have a new boss.
Thus the case reflects that the guidelines do not work properly, they said.
"The minister is the ministry's face. Putting a wrong face on the website will harm its credibility," said a foreign businessman who regularly visits the site to check information.
The ministry hurriedly updated the website with a photo of its new minister shortly after The Korea Times contacted its PR department for an inquiry. But still the minister's biography and message remain unchanged as of Monday afternoon.
Kim's predecessor stepped down from the position in March to run for a parliamentary seat in the April 29 by-elections, but failed to be elected.
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