Gov’t needs to promote communication with public

By Park June-young

Researcher, Chung-Ang University

A democracy cannot survive without clear and honest communication from the government, because citizen trust is necessary for political leaders to make binding decisions and to commit resources to attain societal goals.

However past issues such as the U.S. beef import agreement and the sinking of the Navy ship Cheonnan shows the current efforts of the Korean government’s communication have largely failed to provide citizens with adequate information.

Our study aims to suggest a new government communication system that enhances citizens’ trust in the government through critically analyzing the current one.

In this research, we found four major problems in the Korean government’s communication.

1) There is very weak and poor willingness to communicate with the public.

2) The government does not realize that communication is part of its job and is fundamental to its functioning.

3) The PR function of government policies is weak. The government does not see the need to make the public understand its policies and so weak government communication has clear negative consequences.

4) There is no systematic approach in communicating with the public. The citizens feel they are not well informed about government decisions and actions.

In conclusion, we suggest five ways to improve government communication in Korea.

1) Build an effective government communication monitoring system.

2) Increase government communication capacity.

3) Link policy process with communication efforts.

4) Create a communication culture.

5) Practice democratic governance.