[Gwanga in] Avoidance of Ministry of Economy and Finance Policy Line... Measures to Innovate Working Methods Prepared

As the aversion to the Deputy Minister for Economic Policy line, which oversees South Korea's economic policies, intensifies, the Deputy Minister's Office recently prepared and internally shared the "Deputy Minister's Office Innovation Plan and Implementation Strategy." This was done to analyze the reasons behind the declining preference for the policy line and to devise measures to change the working methods. The Deputy Minister's Office sees the need for changes such as reorganizing the current organizational structure and expanding authority to enhance communication and persuasion capabilities with other departments or ministries.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 24th, the Deputy Minister's Office recently formed an internal TF (Task Force) and, reflecting the opinions of employees from the Economic Policy Bureau, Policy Coordination Bureau, Economic Structural Reform Bureau, and Future Strategy Bureau under the Deputy Minister's Office, prepared and shared the "Deputy Minister's Office Innovation Plan and Implementation Strategy" internally.

With the regular personnel reshuffle for section chiefs scheduled for March, the Deputy Minister line is increasingly regarded as an "avoided department," prompting the internal judgment that alternatives are necessary. However, since the measures were prepared internally, there is reluctance to disclose them externally.

The Deputy Minister's Office analyzed that the recent decline in preference stems from a complex set of causes related to the weakening of its unique policy oversight function. The Deputy Minister's Office is responsible for discovering and planning policies necessary for the Korean economy. Therefore, it is essential to be involved in and oversee the work of other ministries or divisions, even though it is not the authority itself.

The problem lies in the fact that, unlike during the Economic Planning Board era, the status of the economic control tower has diminished, forcing employees to repeatedly plead and appeal to other ministries to get things done. In an environment lacking real authority to persuade other ministries and the former prestige, employees' self-esteem is continuously declining.

There is also a growing awareness of the difficulty in securing expertise. There is a perception that career development is harder compared to the Taxation Office, Budget Office, and International Finance Bureau, and morale issues have accumulated particularly within the Economic Structural Reform Bureau and Future Strategy Bureau inside the Deputy Minister's Office. The number of measures presented as agenda items at the Economic Ministers' Meeting is important for employee morale and evaluation, but major tasks are concentrated only in some divisions within the Economic Policy Bureau and Policy Coordination Bureau. Employees in departments with concentrated workloads suffer from accumulated fatigue, while those in other departments feel deprived as their work is not recognized.

Accordingly, the Deputy Minister's Office sees the need for systemic changes to make work more valuable. Proposals have been made to reorganize the four bureaus. Although the detailed directions differ by bureau, for example, the Deputy Minister's Office should reorganize its subordinate organizations by dividing concepts around major themes such as Economic Policy Bureau (overall, macro) - Policy Coordination Bureau (industry) - Economic Structural Reform Bureau + Future Strategy Bureau (inflation, small business owners).

Alternatively, there is a proposal to integrate into an Economic Policy Office or to merge the Economic Structural Reform Bureau and Future Strategy Bureau and assign predictable unique tasks to all divisions within the policy line. It is also considered necessary to strengthen functions by bureau and to mandate that all divisions submit at least one or two external disclosure agenda items related to major tasks annually. This would help prevent various side effects caused by workload concentration within the policy bureaus.

To enhance work efficacy, it is also seen as necessary to grant authority to persuade other ministries. It is judged that the Deputy Minister's Office needs speaking authority over the budget, which is the core Ministry of Economy and Finance authority to influence other ministries. There is a call for incentives to persuade other ministries, such as requiring prior consultation with the Deputy Minister's Office before submitting budget requests to the Budget Office. Additionally, opinions were raised about the need for various incentives to compensate for the high work intensity. Suggestions included establishing a monthly policy allowance of 300,000 KRW for all employees below grade 1, introducing performance pay reflecting the number of agenda items submitted to the Economic Ministers' Meeting, and expanding the number of study abroad positions (TO) allocated within the Deputy Minister's Office.