By Yoon Won-sup
Staff Reporter
President-elect Lee Myung-bak seeks to revise a law to make it possible to hire foreigners as civil servants.
``I would like to suggest changing the law governing civil servants so that we can employ foreigners in the government,'' Lee said during a meeting with senior officials of the Democratic Party, Saturday.
The suggestion came from personal experience. Lee couldn't hire William Ryback, a former deputy chief executive of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, as a government official because of the law.
``I specially invited William Ryback as senior official at deputy chief level of the Financial Supervisory Service, but I could only appoint him as a special adviser,'' he said. ``I will employ talented foreigners in my government.''
Currently Ryback works with the foreign investment task force of Lee's presidential power transition team's as an adviser.
Lee also said he is willing to put foreigners on the intelligence affairs as, ``foreigners in general, tends to keep sensitive information to themselves when they finish their term.''
The law on public servants stipulates that foreigners can be hired only in special areas of the government such as research, technology and education. They are not allowed work in the nation's policy-making and national security affairs.