Primary mission is to spread 'administrative hallyu'

Seen above is an artist’s concept of the new site for LOGODI now in its final stage of construction in Wanju, North Jeolla Province. The institute will move to the new place in August. / Courtesy of LOGOD

By Park Jin-hai

Local Government Officials Development Institute (LOGODI), founded in 1965, is a training center for local government officials by building their administrative capacities.

Toward that end, it helps enable the policies of central government to be adopted efficiently at the local level. This year alone it runs a total of 177 courses and about 170,000 local government officials enrolled for these programs.

The institute, under the umbrella of the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, has been also running international programs since 1996 to aid developing countries by sharing Korea’s development tips with them.

Courses are categorized into three major areas; “Korean Economic Development at a Glance” includes studies on state-led rural development initiative of “Saemaeul Movement”; “Local Government Administration System in Korea” researches on local governments’ financing and personnel management; and “Development Strategies for Developing Countries” pays heeds to strategies to enhance transparency in local governments.

As of today, there have been 127 international courses and 2,539 officials from the less developed countries benefited from the programs.

For instance, the institute, as part of ODA projects, has offered Public Sector Management Programs for Sri Lanka, Egypt, Iraq, Uganda and Tanzania.

It also runs training sessions upon the requests of international organizations such as HRD/HRM Capacity Improvement Program for Bangkok Metropolitan Administration Officials and Capacity Building Program for Bangladeshi officials.

Not only does it train visiting foreign local officials, but it also travels to the countries upon their requests. Starting from Egypt in 2010, it has been to Mongolia and Tanzania in 2011 and 2012, respectively. This year it will visit Indonesia and provide customized training to its local officials.

The institute, headquartered in Suwan, Gyeonggi Province, will be relocated to Wanju, North Jeolla Province, in August this year.