ed 'Land of bureaucrats'
Further progress only possible after public sector reform
In the 1970s and ’80s, governmental administration was lauded as the driving force behind the country’s rapid development. However, the bureaucracy has become a burden to further development of the nation, while the private sector has made rapid progress due to the dynamics of the competitive market.
The recent ferry disaster has laid bare ― once again ― the true nature of our complacent and incompetent bureaucrats.
Confusion created by officials, along with their apparent insincerity and prioritized self-preservation, irritated, disappointed and angered the general public, let alone the families of the victims of the tragedy, in the aftermath of the sinking.
On the morning of April 16, when the 6,825-ton Sewol was tilting to the left, rescuers from the Korea Coast Guard spent the critical first two hours only salvaging people from the sea. They should have been bold enough to enter the hull and save those trapped inside the doomed vessel, mostly students of Danwon High School who complied with instructions to stay put.
It’s dumfounding even now that confusion was overwhelming at the start of the ferry sinking as various ministries rushed to establish emergency centers without coordinating their efforts. The resultant lack of a control tower caused officials to run about in confusion, causing additional trouble with the government’s initial disaster response.
Cozy relationships between bureaucrats and businesses also offered a fundamental cause for the nation’s biggest marine disaster in 20 years as safety inspections of the ill-fated boat and cargoes were neglected.
Paradoxically, there wouldn’t have been a calamity of this sort had our system worked effectively at any time.
It’s long overdue for the nation’s overgrown bureaucracy to undergo drastic reform. Our officialdom is led by a few elite officials who were selected through the highly competitive civil service exam. They wield enormous power and are guaranteed employment until the age of 60 with generous pension payments post-retirement. They are sensitive to the movement of political power but oblivious to the needs of people and their livelihoods.
Most worrisome is that large calamities can happen at any time because of the deep-seated ``revolving door’’ practice inherent in almost all state sectors. It’s hardly surprising then that retired officials from the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries have dominated the top posts at the shipping-related agencies for decades and protected them from strong government inspections. The same can be said of most other ministries.
President Park Geun-hye seems well aware of all these problems and hinted at revamping the public sector earlier this week. But it would be naive to expect the bureaucrats to change their easygoing attitude, just by words. It’s none other than the president herself who has taken the lead in parachuting retired high-ranking officials into state companies and other public entities.
The nation should use the ferry disaster as a catalyst to remodel safety standards and procedures in the nation. The first step toward that goal is across-the-board public sector reform.