ed Government 3.0

Goal of reorganization is to offer better public service

Every time a new administration is launched, talk of organizational change within government routinely emerges and the incoming administration is no exception.

Five years ago, then-President-elect Lee Myung-bak also restructured the organization of government under the slogan of seeking a smaller bureaucracy and a bigger market. However, it appears that few believe the restructuring has produced the desired effects.

So far, nothing has been fixed yet with respect to the restructuring and Park Geun-hye’s transition team is expected to finalize the organizational framework for the new government by the end of this month after pooling opinion from people across all walks of life.

What’s drawing keenest attention from Park’s campaign pledges on government restructuring is the creation of the tentatively-named Ministry of Future and Creative Science.

Still, its role is uncertain, but the prevailing opinion is that the ministry will become a key unit in the new government that will take charge of vast functions ranging from nurturing talent and setting up crucial economic policies to creating jobs and even nurturing the country’s growth industries. This means that the new ministry will absorb some of the functions scattered across the various ministries under Park’s vision for a ``creative economy.’’

However, there are strong doubts about the new ministry, which will become a gigantic agency, apparently on reflection from the nation’s economic meltdown in the late 1990s. Back then, the creation of the monstrous Ministry of Finance and Economy was strongly blamed for the economic debacle. At the same time, there is the possibility that basic sciences may be neglected if the new ministry is preoccupied overwhelmingly with job creation.

Park promised to revive the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries that will be tasked with coordinating policies on all maritime affairs by absorbing functions held by the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs and the Ministry for Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. The ministry was abolished at the start of the incumbent administration and it’s questionable whether its revival is reasonable, considering that the pledge was apparently aimed at wooing voters in Busan where the ministry is to be headquartered. The transition team is also considering creating an agency that will oversee information and communications-related policies.

It’s regrettable that even conservative governments rarely raise the need for a small government. It was ironic to watch the number of government officials soar by more than 10,000 over the last five years.

Given that no other country in the world shakes up the government structure frequently, President-elect Park needs to make sure that the forthcoming blueprint for government organization will remain intact for decades at least.

In this regard, we take note of ``Government 3.0,’’ Park’s pledge for public-sector reform that envisions realizing a ``transparent, competent and service-oriented government.’’ This catchphrase is intended to make equitable information sharing a key value in the operation of government. To be sure, the ultimate goal of the government restructuring is to provide better public service.