Controversy Over Competency of Naju City Council Policy Support Officer with "46 Million KRW Annual Salary Per Person"

‘Sharing-style’ Job Performance and Majority of Ordinance Proposals Remain at Copying Level

Lack of Expertise Clearly Revealed in Training and Research Activity Reports

Council Official: "We Will Strive for Quality Legislative Activities Through Education and More"

The competency of policy support officers who assist and support the legislative activities of city council members belonging to the Naju City Council in Jeollanam-do is coming under criticism. Despite receiving an annual salary of about 46 million KRW, equivalent to a Grade 7 general civil servant, there are controversies over their qualifications due to "dividing up" job performance records, some support officers' insincere attitudes, and patronage appointments.

According to the Naju City Council on the 22nd, there are currently eight policy support officers employed in the council. With 16 city council members in Naju, one policy support officer supports two council members.

A panoramic photo of the Naju City Council.

Policy support officers were hired according to the revised Local Autonomy Act in 2022. They can be appointed as local (term-based) public officials within half the number of local council members.

According to Article 4 (Duties of Policy Support Officers) of the "Naju City Council Policy Support Officer Operation and Management Ordinance," policy support officers perform the following roles: ① supporting legislative activities related to council resolutions such as ordinance enactment/amendment and budget/settlement review, including data collection, investigation, and analysis; ② assisting in the preparation of council members' document submission requests and collecting and analyzing related materials; ③ supporting administrative audits and investigations.

Additionally, ④ supporting council members in drafting city administration inquiry documents and collecting and analyzing related materials; ⑤ supporting the holding of public hearings, seminars, and forums by council members, including document preparation and attendance; ⑥ and other tasks such as collecting, investigating, analyzing materials, and supporting legislative activities related to Articles 47 to 52 and Article 83 of the Local Autonomy Act.

In summary, they perform the duties of council-affiliated public officials to professionally and systematically support the legislative activities of city council members.

However, regarding ordinances, which can be considered the pinnacle of council members' legislative activities, it has been revealed that most have been at the level of copying ordinances from other local governments. It is known that there has not been a single ordinance proposed as a "nationwide first" or "Jeollanam-do first" through the 9th term of the Naju City Council.

In fact, one council member has zero ordinance proposals even after entering their second year of legislative activity. Such points raise criticism that the roles of policy support officers who assist and support council members are ineffective.

The summary reports on domestic and international training or research activities of city council members are even more disappointing.

Reviewing the materials obtained through information disclosure requests, it was visually evident that most reports were written in a "patchwork" style, commonly known as "copy + paste."

Regarding the essential goals of training and research activities, such as "applicable points to our city" and "impressions and implications," the content mainly showed a clear lack of expertise rather than results from in-depth research and discussion.

Moreover, the major achievements such as ordinance drafts, proposals/resolutions, forums and meetings, and research group activities recorded in the policy support officers' support work status data provided by the relevant department appear to be recorded in a "dividing up" manner among the policy support officers, making it difficult to avoid criticism of protecting their own group.

B, a resident of Bitgaram-dong, lamented, "I didn't even know that policy support officers existed in the city council," adding, "In the midst of a severe employment crisis, it is suspicious that policy support officers, who receive treatment equivalent to Grade 7 civil servants and an annual salary exceeding 40 million KRW, fail to produce any significant achievements and are only busy hiding their shortcomings."

In response, Team Leader A of the city council said, "The most experienced policy support officer has only been in the role for two years, so there are some shortcomings in the work," and added, "We will make efforts at the city council level to provide high-quality legislative activities through internal training and other measures."

Naju = Kim Yukbong, Honam Reporting Headquarters, Asia Economy baekok@asiae.co.kr