Gov't officials in Sejong City suffering inefficiency
By Yoon Ja-young
Three years have passed since major government ministries started moving to Sejong City, an administrative city built about two hours south of Seoul.
While the city was built in the countryside, it is rapidly getting organized and equipped with diverse infrastructure. However, concern is increasing among government officials over inefficiency and a lack of competence.
Chang, a director general, leased a studio near the Sejong Government Complex. However, he sleeps there only once a week, at most.
He is just one of many ranking officials who haven’t moved to Sejong City as their families can’t leave Seoul due to school or work. But more fundamentally, the officials themselves have to be in Seoul most of the time.
“For us, lawmakers are like our clients,” Chang said. “We have to explain policies to them, or go to Cheong Wa Dae for consultations. Most meetings are held in Seoul as that’s where most people are.”
In the case of directors, some have moved to Sejong with their families while more still live in Seoul. Regardless of whether they have moved or not, they must travel between Seoul and Sejong many times a week. Most young deputy directors, meanwhile, are in Sejong.
This probably wasn’t expected when the plan to relocate the government complex to Sejong was conceived by the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, who sought balanced development of the country where concentration in the capital area was presenting a serious problem.
During the former President Lee Myung-bak’s administration, however, concerns were raised over inefficiencies of the plan. This led to a revised plan, but President Park Geun-hye, who headed the governing party, pushed ahead with the original plan. Now, 70 percent of ministries are located in Sejong City.
As ranking officials have to travel between Seoul and Sejong, work efficiency is seriously hampered. They complain that they spend too much time on the road and incur too many expenses. They regret having less time to ponder and discuss policies.
Both governing and opposition parties suggested establishing a National Assembly branch in Sejong, to lessen the inefficiency of government officials having to come to Seoul for lawmakers. Government officials expect it will help them a lot.
Some senior officials point out that less contact between senior officials and junior officials led to the incompetence of younger officials. They could learn from seniors by watching how they work, but they are losing such opportunities in Sejong City.
“In the past, a senior official could train junior officials as if in an apprenticeship, regarding how to prepare reports. I used to take a junior official with me when I reported to a minister or vice minister. The junior official could see the big picture of how the work is done within the government. It is a pity that I can’t train them like that anymore,” said a ranking official at the finance ministry. As he doesn’t spend much time in Sejong, he often gets younger officials’ reports through email, which he checks while going to Seoul by KTX. He can’t teach young officials how to improve the reports as he did in the past.
Most senior officials agree that the quality of reports prepared by younger officials has deteriorated notably compared with a few years ago, and they point to a lack of training and communication as the main reason. It means the quality of administrative services and policies is also likely to deteriorate.
Also of concern is that the younger government officials, most of whom reside in Sejong City, are losing contact with the private sector.
Choi, a deputy director who moved to Sejong City with her family, rarely sees her college friends. “Life in Sejong City is okay in that I can live in a new apartment at a low price and I don’t have to be bothered by the traffic jams of Seoul, despite the poor infrastructure. However, I am losing touch with friends and relatives,” she said.
“It seems that the only people I meet in Sejong are government officials, reporters stationed in Sejong and other moms at my son’s kindergarten. It’s been quite a while since I saw my friends who work in the private sector.”
A former senior official of the finance ministry said it is a serious problem. “Friends working in the private industry can tell you what is going on in the market. In Seoul, you could mingle with financial industry people on Yeouido, but it isn’t so in Sejong,” he said.