[1mm Financial Talk] Severe Personnel Bottleneck in Financial Crisis Management

All 44th Administrative Examination Officials at the FSC Promoted to Deputy Director-General
Deputy Director-General: The Gateway to Senior Executive Service
Severe Personnel Stagnation Compared to Other Ministries

Through a recent managerial-level personnel reshuffle, the Financial Services Commission (FSC) promoted all officials from the 44th Administrative Examination to the rank of Deputy Director-General. However, this personnel move highlights the FSC's personnel stagnation. The promotion to Deputy Director-General occurred later than in the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MOEF), where personnel stagnation is even more severe.

On the 5th, the FSC announced the promotion of Managers Lee Seok-ran (44th Administrative Examination) and Kim Bo-gyun (50th Administrative Examination) to Deputy Director-General. The Deputy Director-General is a Grade 3 public official, just one rank below a senior executive service position. The senior managers promoted to Deputy Director-General have experience in key departments and are seasoned policy makers. As they accumulate years of service and political acumen, senior managers are often called the "flower of public officials."

The FSC is a government organization where finance-related officials work alongside the MOEF. Among the seven administrative examination categories, finance-related officials face the highest competition rate and continue to experience fierce competition after appointment, receiving special treatment even among Administrative Examination graduates. During the industrialization period, the MOEF held overwhelming prestige as the agency managing the nation's finances and budget, but since the 2000s, the global importance of financial policy has increased, elevating the FSC's status. In particular, the FSC is popular among young public officials because it is located in the Gwanghwamun Government Seoul Office.

However, in recent years, the number of officials leaving the FSC has increased. This is due to worsening treatment of public officials and deepening personnel stagnation within the FSC. The FSC is known in the public service community for its severe personnel stagnation. Even the MOEF, which also suffers from serious personnel stagnation, promoted 43rd to 44th Administrative Examination graduates to Deputy Director-General in the first half of 2023, and 45th graduates in the second half.

In fact, since a large-scale managerial-level reshuffle in 2022, the FSC has only been making personnel changes at the level of reassigning posts. In 2024, the FSC established the "Virtual Assets Division," increasing the number of manager positions by only one. It is not uncommon to see officials who are still senior assistant managers at the FSC but have already been promoted to manager rank in other ministries.

A financial industry insider said, "The FSC is a small organization with fewer than 400 people, so it cannot conduct regular annual personnel reshuffles like other ministries. Personnel changes can only occur when there is a demand for them."

Meanwhile, if the Constitutional Court accepts the impeachment in the presidential impeachment trial, a presidential election will be held within 60 days. In that case, ministerial-level appointments will be verified and appointed after mid-May, and sequential replacement of ministers and vice ministers is expected.