Public Institutions Slimming Down... Over 10,000 Staff Cuts - Real Estate Sales of 2.6 Trillion Won

Ministry of Economy and Finance Reviews Last Year's 'Public Institution Innovation' Implementation Performance

Choi Sang-mok, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Economy and Finance, is touching his glasses while attending the Emergency Economic Ministers' Meeting held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 26th. Photo by Jo Yong-jun jun21@

Through efficiency measures in public institutions, it was found that more than 10,000 personnel positions were reduced last year.

According to the "2023 Public Institution Innovation Plan Implementation Performance Review" released by the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 28th, each public institution reduced a total of 11,374 personnel positions last year through organizational and workforce efficiency improvements.

The implementation rate compared to the original plan (11,072 personnel) was 102.7%. The Ministry explained that some institutions had already implemented plans for this year early last year (376 personnel).

In asset efficiency, a total of 2.6 trillion won (409 cases) was sold, achieving an implementation rate of 38.8% in terms of amount and 63.0% in terms of number of cases compared to the plan (6.8 trillion won, 649 cases). The poor performance in both amount and number of cases was due to difficulties in sales caused by the real estate market downturn.

Excessive welfare programs such as reductions in cultural and leisure expenses, abolition of high school tuition fees, and improvements in the in-house loan system (reducing loan limits, applying variable interest rates, applying LTV, etc.) were improved in 478 cases. The implementation rate compared to the plan (636 cases) was only 75.2%, which the Ministry explained was due to some delays requiring labor-management agreements.

Additionally, 345 public institutions reduced their operating expenses by 13.3 trillion won last year.

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration has been pushing for strong innovation measures based on the judgment that public institutions’ workforce and debt have surged, leading to reckless management. The Ministry of Economy and Finance added, "We will continuously monitor the progress of the public institution innovation plan and reflect the results in management evaluations and government performance assessments."