By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
When President Lee Myung-bak assumed office 13 months ago, one of his most pressing tasks was to restructure government ministries.
The role of the Ministry of Public Administration and Security (MOPAS) has become more pronounced than ever, as it has the lawful mandate to administer the overarching procedures of reorganizing the administrative branch.
In an interview with The Korea Times, MOPAS Assistant Minister Park Chan-woo outlined the basic skeleton of government restructuring. He heads the Office of Organization, a core unit for reshaping public organizations and functions for efficiency and productivity.
``Enormous changes have occurred during the past year since President Lee's inauguration. Under such dire economic circumstances, we in the public service place utmost priority on implementing policies toward overcoming the crisis, and in order to do our part within the capacity of MOPAS, we are reinforcing measures to readjust government organizations and personnel,'' Park told The Korea Times at his office at the Central Government Complex, central Seoul.
``One of the earliest undertakings was to articulate a specific roadmap for retooling the government organization and workforce for President Lee's administrative reform.''
President Lee has introduced a policy of ``Grand Ministry, Grand Bureau,'' a considerable departure from the meticulous subdivisions of the ``team system'' that had been the structural backbone of government ministries under the previous Roh Moo-hyun administration.
``What we are now trying to do is to streamline bureaus and divisions in the administrative branch per key functions. Over the past year, we have sought to complement deficiencies in the team system and revise them with measures focused on upgrading productivity and efficiency,'' said Park, indicating that running government organizations in teams revealed several drawbacks.
Currently, there are 2,084 lower arms at the central government level, a sizable reduction from the previous 2,232.
Under the new initiative, the Lee administration consolidated ministries with duplicate and similar functions, eliminating 11 and bringing the total number of ministries down to 45. Notably, the ministries of maritime and fisheries, and construction and transportation were combined into one organization now known as the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritimes Affairs, while the Government Information Agency was merged into the culture ministry.
The reorganization was in line with President Lee's design to revitalize administrative efficiency. In addition, the government also plans to privatize or consolidate 108 public corporations that have often been criticized for lax management.
When the former administration subdivided public organizations into teams in 2005, a move inspired by efficient corporate management practices, it did simplify bureaucratic procedures and organizations, while creating an administrative atmosphere where efficacy, productivity and team spirit were highly appreciated.
Traditionally, the Korean public sector was perceived as unmotivated and sorely lacking in competency as opposed to the private sector, which actually has to create visible and sustainable outcomes to remain viable.
``Such thorough subdivisions lead to overlapping in costs and personnel, as found in the example of several people doing secretarial affairs in separate teams in a department. And then there were coordination problems among different teams,'' said Park.
Simplified organizations means cutback in work force. As defined in the Grand Ministry, Grand Bureau policy, the government shed excess personnel and minimized fresh recruits by temporarily hiring professionals from the private sector. In addition, new measures to ensure maximum productivity are to be introduced, such as the ``fast track'' system, expanding flexibility in promotion for outstanding performers regardless of their years in service.
These swift administrative transitions got mixed reaction, with some government employees displaying downright opposition. The Administrative Branch Employee Union denounced the Grand Ministry, Grand Bureau policy as hastily conceived and disturbing to the stability and duty of public servants.