Representative Wiseongon Survey on Civil Servants' Appreciation Day
5,514 Respondents "Experienced Appreciation Day Within a Year"
Lunch Hosted for Department Heads with Personal and Private Expenses
Plea to Eliminate Burden from Menu to Costs
"I'm a level 9, step 3 employee, and paying 100,000 won every month is a burden."
"It's strange that people earning 5 million won a month are having lunch paid for by young people who earn 2 million won."
In the public service, there is a "Moshineun Nal" (Day of Hosting), a "special day." It is a custom where lower-level public officials pool their own money to treat directors and department heads to lunch or dinner.
About 100 young union members of the Public Officials Union are urging the Presidential Office to raise wages on August 6. [Photo by National Public Officials Labor Union]
On the 6th, Wi Seong-gon, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, conducted a survey on public officials' perceptions of the "Moshineun Nal" custom among local government employees. According to the survey results, out of 12,526 local public officials who responded, 9,479 (75.7%) said they were aware of "Moshineun Nal." Among them, 5,514 answered that they had directly experienced or were still experiencing "Moshineun Nal" within the past year. This corresponds to 44% of the total respondents.
"Moshineun Nal" mainly involved lunch meals (57.6%), with dinner (7.2%) and drinking gatherings (10.4%) also reported. The recipients of the hosting were mostly the directors and department heads of their respective departments. The proportion of those who treated both was about half at 44.9%, followed by department heads at 35.5%, and directors at 17.0%.
Regarding the method of bearing meal costs, the most common response (55.6%) was that the team collected personal funds within their team and spent from the team’s petty cash. Answers indicating pooling money on the day or collecting money in advance were 21.5%, and 4.1% said they used the institution’s finances through irregular or illegal means. Although there were cases where directors or department heads bore the costs, Wi said they mainly used business promotion expenses (31.1%).
Among the local public officials who participated in the survey, 69.2% viewed "Moshineun Nal" negatively. When asked whether "Moshineun Nal" was necessary, 43.1% said "not necessary at all," and 25.8% said "not very necessary." The reason given was that it is an "unreasonable custom that does not fit the times," accounting for 84%.
In the survey, despite the question "If you have anything to say, please feel free to write," being a multiple-choice answer item, as many as 2,085 respondents participated. Along with the opinions introduced earlier, there were comments such as "You have to figure out the department head’s likes and dislikes, seasonal foods, and choose a menu that does not overlap with other teams," and "I cannot focus on morning work because I have to choose a restaurant, get approval, make a reservation, and go early to set the tableware."
Hundreds of appeals saying "Please abolish it" were submitted, and many responses mentioned the real names of affiliated institutions or requested specific audits for allegations. Wi Seong-gon said, "There were opinions that this is not uncommon not only in local governments but also in the police agency and health centers," and pointed out, "The biggest problem is the sense of helplessness felt by young and talented public officials. Central government officials who do not know the field situation are neglecting it with superficial, desk-based administration."
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