"Society Where Even Level 9 Civil Servants Are Hard to Become... Dismiss Park Seong-min" Public Service Exam Candidates' 청원 to 청와대

"Feeling Deprived and Powerless After Appointment News"
"It Is Unfair That Someone with No Experience Became a Grade 1 Public Official"

President Moon Jae-in appointed Park Seong-min, former Supreme Council Member of the Democratic Party of Korea, as the new Youth Secretary at the Blue House on the 21st. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Opposition among some young people against Park Sung-min, the Blue House Youth Secretary, is growing. A petition urging the dismissal of Secretary Park has even been posted on the Blue House's public petition website. The petitioner, who identified themselves as a young person preparing for the civil service exam, criticized Park's appointment as "unfair and unreasonable."

On the 25th, a petition titled "We Petition for the Dismissal of Youth Secretary Park Sung-min" was posted on the public petition website. The petitioner wrote, "After seeing the news of Secretary Park's appointment, I could not remain silent and decided to write this," adding, "As an ordinary young person, the feelings I mainly experienced upon seeing that news were deprivation, skepticism, helplessness, and futility."

They continued, "Since the civil service system is a hierarchical system, each rank requires a considerable amount of time, effort, and competence to advance," and "There are clear rules governing this, but the government's recent decision disregards all these systems."

Furthermore, they stated, "In today's society, where becoming a grade 9 civil servant is already very difficult, countless young people spend their youth, which will never come back, studying more than 10 hours a day in dark study rooms," and criticized, "It is very unfair that Secretary Park, who has no experience as a civil servant and has only been active in the party for about two years, was placed in the highest civil service rank, grade 1, without any exam or fair and open competency verification."

The petitioner added, "Youth polarization is a major issue these days, and I believe the government also considers it an urgent problem to solve," and pointed out, "This decision seems to show an example of youth polarization led by the government itself."

A post uploaded on the anonymous bulletin board for National Assembly staff, 'Yeouido Next to Bamboo Forest.' / Photo by Facebook screen capture.

Earlier, Secretary Park was appointed as the Blue House Youth Secretary, a grade 1 secretary position, on the 21st.

Regarding this, Blue House spokesperson Park Kyung-mi said at a Chuncheon briefing, "The newly appointed Youth Secretary Park has shown a balanced approach by confidently expressing his opinions on current issues and carefully listening to various voices," and added, "We expect him to better understand the difficulties of youth from their perspective, communicate with young people, and create and coordinate policies for youth."

However, some young people opposed this personnel decision, claiming that Secretary Park was appointed purely based on political judgment without any recruitment exam or relevant experience.

On the anonymous bulletin board "Bamboo Forest Next to Yeouido," used by National Assembly workers, voices of dissatisfaction were heard, such as "National personnel appointments are becoming populist," and "What exactly has (Secretary Park) done to become a secretary?"

An anonymous National Assembly worker wrote on the "Bamboo Forest" on the 22nd, "The essence of the Youth Secretary issue is relative deprivation. What achievements has the former party leader, who brought in the highest committee member as a shocking appointment, actually made? Has the livelihood of young people improved?" and added, "It seemed like a desperate attempt to imitate existing politicians. It gives the impression that if you have good luck or connections, you can succeed without much effort."

Another worker sarcastically criticized Secretary Park as a "Cinderella," questioning, "Is it acceptable for national personnel appointments to be made this populistically?"

Meanwhile, Secretary Park was appointed as the youth spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Korea in 2019 and served as a Supreme Council member during Lee Nak-yeon's leadership last year. He completed his sophomore year in Korean Language and Literature at Gangnam University before transferring to Korea University’s Korean Language and Literature department, where he is currently enrolled. However, Secretary Park plans to take a leave of absence from university during his tenure as secretary.