[Viewpoint]Let’s Nurture One Million Hard-Working Civil Servants

It was June 2002. An economic delegation led by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry visited the western regions of China, traveling through Beijing and then to Yichang, Chongqing, Chengdu, and Lhasa. The purpose was to tour the sites of China’s ambitious Western Development Project and examine the investment environment. As leading Korean companies gathered, local Chinese governments warmly welcomed the delegation. Yichang promoted its ability to supply ample electricity to businesses, highlighting the completion of the Three Gorges Dam and its 387 hydroelectric power plants. Chengdu requested that Korean companies move into its IT industrial complex.

Yongseong Park, chairman of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who participated in the delegation, said, “Chinese officials forgot their holidays in order to attract investment.” Byeongdoo Sohn, vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries (now Korea Enterprises Federation), commented, “Chinese officials are reminiscent of our civil servants in the late 1970s.” A businessperson in the delegation remarked, “I saw the passion for economic growth.” In the eyes of the Korean business leaders, the dedication of the Chinese officials left a strong impression. China, which once trailed Korea, now surpasses Korea in many fields.

The rapid growth of socialist China can be largely attributed to the efforts of its officials. In the early days of opening up, the Chinese government was desperate to attract foreign companies, but then it began to focus on nurturing strategic industries, while continuously supplying cheap labor known as ‘nongmin gong’ (migrant workers from rural areas). Major universities trained talent specifically tailored to the needs of industry. While these policies required great sacrifices from many people, they became a highly efficient national growth strategy. The key leaders of this strategy were Communist Party officials-a story that closely mirrors Korea’s own industrialization in the 1960s to 1980s.

President Lee Jaemyung has been emphasizing a ‘24-hour work attitude’ to Blue House staff. As a result, since the launch of the Lee administration, Blue House employees have averaged more than 62 hours of overtime work per month-3.7 times more than other public servants. This figure is overwhelmingly higher even compared to the National Police Agency (29.8 hours as of 2024) and the National Fire Agency (25.4 hours), both of which have heavy disaster and emergency workloads. In July last year, when work peaked due to tariff negotiations with the U.S. administration, overtime reached 69 hours. Recently, during a Cabinet meeting, President Lee stated, “The fate of the nation rests in the hands of senior officials. Work-life balance is good, but now is a time of crisis and emergency. Even pouring in all our time is not enough. I ask you to endure, even if it’s difficult for a while. To ease the hardships faced by the people, we must tighten our shoelaces even more.”

An ‘industrious Blue House’ is good news for the public. The atmosphere at the Blue House sets the tone for the entire civil service. But this alone is not enough. The entire public sector should not be shaken every time there is a change in the presidency. A robust system must be established. Diligent public servants should be duly rewarded, while those who waste taxpayers’ money should face strict penalties. Within the boundaries of preventing abuse of power, appropriate autonomy should also be granted. Excessive responsibility should not be imposed for mistakes made in the course of earnest work.

It is time to build a system in which public servants can truly work effectively-so that all 1.17 million civil servants can be up and running.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.