[Gwanga in] Ministry of Economy and Finance Officer Hit by Daily Bombshell... "Not a Dynamic Economy but Adversity"

Conflicting Opinions Among Ministries
Policy Confusion Due to Slow Coordination
"Work-Family Balance Impossible As Is"

Recently announced 'Dynamic Economy Roadmap' and the preparation process for the 'Second Half Economic Policy Direction (Hakyungbang)' have sparked criticism among Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF) officials over excessive workloads. The workload increased due to inefficient policy preparation, leading to repetitive tasks. There are also opinions that a culture aiming for efficient work must be established for actual work-life balance to be achieved.

According to government circles on the 12th, numerous posts criticizing the Dynamic Economy and Hakyungbang appeared on MOEF's internal bulletin board 'Gonggam Sotong'. One author pointed out, "It was something we did just a few days ago, but they are ordering all departments and bureaus to do it again," adding, "Even if there is a system, what meaning does it have if the amount of work and deadlines remain unchanged?" As dissatisfaction grew, some officials sarcastically referred to the Dynamic Economy as 'Yeokgyeong' (meaning adversity) among themselves.

Frontline officials explained that the internal backlash was "not simply because there is a lot of work." MOEF official A said, "It is not easy for frontline departments creating policies to simultaneously communicate with other ministries," and added, "Originally, the General Coordination Division was supposed to handle communication, but this time, the instruction was for not only the General Coordination Division but all divisions to coordinate with other ministries on their own, making preparation especially difficult." With the disappearance of a single communication channel, various ministries' opinions were raised in a disorganized manner, and the pace of consultations varied, causing various policy confusions such as delays in inter-ministerial coordination.

MOEF explained that it was difficult for the General Coordination Division to handle all coordination while preparing the two policies simultaneously. Typically, MOEF releases the Hakyungbang, which contains the government's economic management guidelines for the second half of the year, at the end of June or early July, but this year, the mid- to long-term project Dynamic Economy was announced together. A MOEF official said, "Since the policy content was so extensive and included vision and roadmap, the General Coordination Division probably could not directly communicate with ministries on all tasks," adding, "So we identified what needed coordination with ministries in advance through frontline divisions."

Following this incident, opinions have also been raised among officials that it is difficult to feel the work-life balance emphasized by Deputy Prime Minister for Economy and Minister of Economy and Finance, Choi Sang-mok, within MOEF. This is because they realized that inefficient work methods cannot reduce excessive workloads. Official B criticized, "Even if a specific department leads the Dynamic Economy or Hakyungbang, ultimately all departments suffer together in a structure that squeezes out work," adding, "If there is no effort to change work methods efficiently, work-life balance is practically impossible."