Gyeonggi Province Urges Provincial Assembly to Expedite Confirmation Hearings for Heads of Affiliated Organizations

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has urged the Gyeonggi Provincial Council to promptly conduct personnel hearings regarding the appointment of heads of eight public institutions under the province.

On the 17th, Gyeonggi Province issued a statement titled "The appointment of heads of Gyeonggi Province public institutions is urgent. We request the active cooperation of the Provincial Council," saying, "Gyeonggi Province has appointed heads of eight institutions, including public institutions subject to personnel hearings, through an open recruitment process. However, since the province and the Provincial Council have not reached a final agreement on the hearing procedures, the appointment of public institution heads is being delayed," expressing concern.

It continued, "(Due to the failure to reach an agreement,) Gyeonggi Province requests the Provincial Council to proceed with personnel hearings for candidates for public institution heads in accordance with the current 'Public Institution Head Personnel Hearing Business Agreement' established between the province and the Provincial Council in 2020," and added, "Starting November 17, Gyeonggi Province plans to send the 'Request for Personnel Hearing of Public Institution Head Candidates' to the Provincial Council for candidates of heads of seven public institutions."

The province also stated, "This is an unavoidable proposal by Gyeonggi Province to normalize the operation of public institutions," emphasizing, "We can no longer leave the vacancies of public institution heads unattended during this critical time when the difficulties of the people's economy are intensifying."

In particular, it said, "Cooperation from the Provincial Council is necessary to stabilize public institutions through swift appointments of heads and to smoothly carry out administrative services for the residents," and promised, "Apart from this cooperation, Gyeonggi Province will continue discussions with the Provincial Council for the efficient operation of the personnel hearing system and strive to create an agreement satisfactory to both institutions."

Since the launch of the 8th elected administration, more than four months have passed, but currently, the heads of 12 public institutions in the province remain vacant.

Accordingly, concerns are growing in some quarters about management gaps and leadership voids due to the prolonged vacancies of institution heads. The province explained that problems in institution operations are emerging, such as delays in decision-making for major projects and hindrance to organizational stabilization.