Yoon Suk-yeol Government Midterm Administrative and Safety Achievements
Innovation in Administrative Services...Systematization in Safety Sector
As the Yoon Suk-yeol administration reaches the halfway point of its two and a half years in power, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced plans to maintain its focus on workforce efficiency while strengthening the quality of administrative services and disaster safety support.
On the 12th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety presented its achievements in the administrative and safety sectors over the past two and a half years and outlined future plans. Vice Minister Ko Gi-dong stated, "We have made every effort to trim the excess fat from the bloated public sector and create an efficient, high-performing government and local governments."
The ministry cited workforce efficiency and the reorganization of agencies and committees as its primary achievements. Since its inception until June this year, the government has reduced the national civil servant quota by 3,006 through measures such as the introduction of the Integrated Utilization Quota System. The policy to reduce the workforce by 5,000 by the end of this year remains in place. Vice Minister Ko explained, "We will complete the quota reallocation by the end of this year," adding, "We plan to reinforce necessary areas while reallocating those that require adjustment."
Approximately 39% of various administrative agencies and committees, which had been criticized for redundancy or inactivity, have been reorganized. In the case of local public institutions, 46 have been reduced through structural reforms and mergers by June, with a focused inspection and reorganization of inefficient management elements.
The ministry intends to strengthen key policy tasks such as administrative services, disaster safety, and the local era. It is expanding innovative public service areas, including mobile identification cards and the elimination of required documents. Starting next year, mobile resident registration cards will be issued, and this year, online issuance of seal certificates was introduced for the first time.
To overcome the deepening issue of local extinction, efforts have been made to expand the institutional foundation. In June 2022, the government enacted the "Population Declining Areas Act" to identify special cases for population-declining regions. Additionally, the Local Extinction Response Fund, which invests 1 trillion won annually, is enhancing regional utilization through reforms in distribution systems and expanded incentives. Penalties have been introduced, such as delaying or withholding budget allocations for regions with low execution rates.
In the disaster sector, support has increased based on comprehensive measures for national safety system reform and innovative disaster response plans for the climate crisis. As a result, despite rainfall during this summer’s monsoon season being 132% of the average, human casualties were minimized. The ministry introduced "READY Korea," a training program focused on complex disasters, and resumed civil defense drills against air raids, which had not been conducted since 2017, thereby enhancing on-site response capabilities.
Remaining challenges include establishing a population department, reforming the local administrative system, and innovating the public service sector. The ministry expects to announce recommendations from the future-oriented administrative system reform committee within this year. It also plans to monitor discussions on the integration of local governments such as Daegu and Gyeongbuk, as well as other basic and metropolitan local governments, and intends to provide sufficient support and cooperation within the system.
Regarding the recent attention drawn by the ministry’s initiation of extending the retirement age for public service workers?the first in the public sector?Vice Minister Ko expressed a cautious stance. He stated, "Matters concerning retirement age extension require sufficient social consensus and comprehensive consideration of the impact on youth; social agreement must come first."
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