Korean Civil Service System in Transition: reform toward an open, representative, performancebased a

1
Korean Civil Service System in Transition reform
toward an open, representative,
performance-based and decentralized system
2
Keun Namkoong , Ph.DSeoul National Univ. of
Technology
3

• I. Introduction
• II. Major Characteristics of the Civil Service
  System
• in Korea
•   
• III. Civil Service Reforms in the Participatory
• Government
•   
• VI. Summary and Conclusions
•   

4
I. Introduction

• Key issues of civil service system design
  include
• recruitment (open or closed?),
•      selection basis (selection for a career or a
  program?),
•      job evaluation (rank and pay vested in
  positions or persons?),
•      performance appraisal (a performance-based
  pay or a
• seniority-based pay?),
•      personnel management authority (is it
  centralized or
• decentralized?).
• This paper attempts to describe recent reform
  efforts of Roh Moo-Hyun administration and
  compare them with the former Korean civil service
  system.

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II. Major Characteristics of the Civil Service
System in Korea 1. Formation of the Civil
Service System in Korea

• Rhee Administration (1948-1960)
•    - The modern civil service system began in
  1949 with the
• legislation of the National Civil Service
  Act .
•   
•        1) classified regular government positions
  into five ranks
•        2) two levels of examination were set up
  
•         3) established the Ministry of Government
  Administration as
• the CPA
•         4) emphasized that civil servants should
  maintain political
• neutrality.

6

•  
• In spite of the provisions based on the merit
  system,
•     - an illegal and informal form of a political
  spoils
• became popular.
•   
•  
•     - Political considerations affected personnel
  
• management with regard to filling empty
  positions,
• transfers, and promotions rather than
  massive
• rotation in office.

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Park Administration (1961-1979)

• After the military coup on May 16, 1961,
• Park Jung-Hee administration began its first
  term in 1963.
•    
• The core members had acquired considerable
  knowledge
• and skills on personnel administration.
• Advisors from USOM recommended the civil service
  reform.
• These factors led reforms of the civil service
  system.
•      

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2. Major Characteristics of the Korean Civil
Service System

• Park administration laid the foundation of civil
  service system in Korea.
•    The basic characteristics of the Korean civil
  service
• system can be summarized as the merit system,
  the rank
• oriented classification system, the closed
  career
• system, and the centralized management system.

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1) Merit Principle

• Merit principle was actually settled down
  during the Park administration.
• Since the National Civil Service Act had been
  newly enacted on April 17, 1963,  the open
  competitive entrance examination become the most
  common method of recruitment.
• The examinations were administered by the Central
  Personnel Agency.

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• 2) Rank Oriented Classification System

•   According to the National Service
  Act of 1949,
•   the civil service is classified into five ranks
• according to the amount of compensation.
•         

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Classification of General Service
According to Duties and Responsibilities, 1961
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• Minor Changes in the Rank System
• In 1961, nine rank system was introduced by
• the revised National Civil Service Act    
• - established A and B sub-grades in each
  rank
• from two through five.
•   
•   In 1981,  a nine grade system replaced the
  nine
• rank system grade 1 the highest
  (assistant minister level)
•     grade 9 the lowest.
•  
•   This grade system applies fully to the
  engineering
• and administrative occupational groups.

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3) Closed Career System

• Korea had used the closed type career system.
•    
• New outside recruitments are made at the 9th,
  7th, and 5th
• grade levels.
•    Manpower vacancies at the 9th grade are
  met by new
• recruitments, while vacancies at the 7th
  and 5th grades are
• filled in large part by promotions or
  transfers from the other
• civil service position and,
• to a lesser extent, through new
  recruitments.
• Seniority is the key to grade promotions among
  others.
•   In this sense, promotions are mainly
  seniority-based.

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4) Centralized Personnel Management System

• The Central Personnel Agency (CPA) of Korea
  has been
• changed several times.
•   The personnel management function was
  centralized from
• the beginning, and not altered in spite of
  the CPA changes.
• The CPA not only managed personnel
  administrative
• functions of the central government but also
  those of local
• governments to a certain extent.

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1. Background to the Civil Service Reform of the
Participatory Government

• 1) Reform Efforts of the Kim Dae-jung
  Administration(1997-2002)
• The 1997 financial crisis instigated the Korean
  reform program.
• Thus, crisis was the impetus for the
  recent public sector reform in Korea.
• Embracing NPM elements, the Kim administration
  sought to
• create 'a small and efficient but better
  serving government',
• the ultimate goals of which were to raise
  Korea's national
• competitiveness (MPB, 2002).

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• The number of civil servants was reduced during
  the Kim Administration.
•   Four years since 1998, a reduction of 20 of
  the total public sector employment as of the end
  of 2002 was achieved.
• As of 2000, Korea has only 18 civil servants
  per one thousand population, which is
  substantially lower than the ratio in Japan (35),
  the US (75), or the UK (65).

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Civil Service Reform of the Kim Administration

• Without public servants that are capable and
  dedicated,
• most of the reform package cannot be
  materialized.
• Thus, civil service reform is the core of
  public service
• reform. 
• Civil service reforms of the Kim
  administration dealt with
• almost every aspects of personnel
  management.
•  
• The Civil Service Commission (CSC) was
  established on
• May 24, 1999.

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2) Overview of the Civil Service Reform of the
Participatory Government (1)

• The government innovation of the Roh Moo-hyun
  administration inherits the Kim administration's
  pursue of an "efficient and better serving
  government".
• But it shows several differences from the
  past.
•     In the past, the "small government" was the
  main idea. But the Roh administration is
  emphasizing the active role of the  government.
• In essence, the Roh administration adopted a
  participatory model of governing rather  than the
  previously sought market model or the new public
  management model.

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Overview of the Civil Service Reform of the
Participatory Government (2)

• The "Presidential Committee on Government
  Innovation and
• Decentralization (PCGID)",  was established on
  April 2003.
• It was comprised both of outside specialists
  and minister-level government officials.
• The takes the merits of  creativity of the
  private sector and the binding powers of a
  government organization.
• 5 subcommittees Administrative reform, HR
  reform,
• E-government
  Reform, Tax and Finance
• Decentralization

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Road-map of Civil Service Reform

• The road-map of civil service reform was
  formulated by the
• HR management reform sub-committee of the
  PCGID in
• collaboration with the Civil Service
  Commission.
•   - announced at July 2003 with the timetable
  for
• implementation.
• The vision was "building a participatory HR
  management
• system based on fairness and expertise".
• 20 specific tasks  can be grouped into five
  categories
•   (1) recruitment of core talents from closed
  to open,
•   (2) enhancing representativeness of
  personnel system, 
•   (3) developing competency from generalist to
  specialist,
•   (4) reward system from seniority-based to
  performance-based,
•   (5) personnel authority from centralized to
  decentralized system.

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2.  From Closed to Open Recruitment System

• The Participatory government pursued the
  previous Kim administration's policy to open up
  the door to civil service to attract more
  talented persons from inside and outside the
  government.
• Along this line, Open Position Program,
  Personnel Exchange Program, Job Posting
  Program, and Senior Civil Service Program were
  institutionalized.

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1) Open Position system

• The open position system (OPS) was introduced
• on May 22, 1999.
• The basic goal is to recruit competent
  personnel
• through open competition among the
  applicants
•     from public and private sectors.
• Under the OPS program, a ministry should
  designate
• 20 of its positions of Grade 1-3 as open
  competitive
• positions.
•    
• The CSC selected 129 positions as OPS
  positions on
• November 15, 1999.

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Prior positions of OPS appointees as of
May 2007
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Comparison of outside appointments of
OPS positions between the Kim Dae-Jung
Administration and the Roh Moo-Hyun
Administration
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2) Personnel Exchange Programs(1)

• Since early 1990s, Korean government has
  attempted
• to expand personnel exchange in several
  directions
• exchange within the central government, between
• central and local governments, between the
  government
• and private sector.
• In 2004, the director-general level (grade 2 or
  3)
• inter-ministry exchange program was introduced
•  
•   In 2005, the division chief level (grade 3
  or 4) inter-
• ministry exchange program had started 34
  positions
• were selected.

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2) Personnel Exchange Programs(2)

• Between central and local governments,
• 84 civil servants in 2004, 102 civil servants
• in 2005 were exchanged.
• The number of civil servants utilizing official
• leave of absence for private work  increased
•   from 12 in 2002, 13 in 2003 to 23 in 2006.

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Number of participants in the leave of
absence for private work program as of May 2007
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3) Ministry-wide Job Posting Program

• Ministry-wide Job posting is a competitive
  recruitment program within the ministry.
• Numbers of Posts and Agencies
  participating
• Job Posting Program

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4)  Senior Civil Service Program

• Based upon the experiences of the OPS, job
  posting program, and personnel exchange program,
  the Senior Civil Service(SCS) was introduced on
  July 2006.
• The SCS is the Government-wide system for
  selecting, preparing, paying and managing a
  differentiated group of senior managers.
• It is composed of director-general or above level
  positions in the central government covering
  approximately 1,500 positions.
• The SCS is managed by combining the open
  competition 20, the government wide job posting
  30, and agency flexible management 50.
• Former grades for the SCS positions (fgrades
  1-3) were abolished. 

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3. Promoting Representativeness of the Civil
Service

• The Participatory Government has promoted
• representativeness of the civil service by
  actively recruiting
• those groups previously under-represented
  within the civil service.
• They are women, disabled persons, scientists and
• engineers, and those from outside the Seoul
  metropolitan
• area.

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1) Affirmative Action for Women(1)

• Since 1996, the target quota program has
• been implemented for the civil service
•   entrance examinations. Since 2005, the target
• quota ratio has been 30 for entrance
•  examinations of grades 5, 7, and 9.
• The target quota ratio is applied both to male
• and female applicants on the ground of gender
• equality principle.

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Numbers of female civil servants,
19952005
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1)  Affirmative Action for Women(2)

•   However, it has been argued that most of the
• female civil servants are in lower grades,
• and that they can not participate in the
  policy-
• making process.
• In 1996, the number of female civil servants
  of
• grade 5 and over was only 378 or 3.0.
• The number increased to 1,203 or 7.4 in
  2004.
•   The target ratio of women at the management
  level
• (grade 5 and over) is set up as 10 in
  2010.

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2)  Affirmative Action for the Disabled

• Since 1990, it was a legal obligation that
  government agencies and local governments should
  recruit disabled persons at least 2 of the total
  employees.
• .

Percentage of disabled civil servants,
19962005.
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3)  Affirmative Action for the Scientists and
Engineers

• In Korea, scientists and engineers are 
  considered
• to be under-represented in the civil
  service. As of May
• 2003, those belonging to science and
  engineering occupational groups were only 24.9 .
  
• Participatory Government set target ratio for
  new
• employment of scientists and engineers in
  grade 5 and
• above as follow
•   

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4)  Affirmative Action for Talents from outside
the Seoul metropolitan Area

• As concentration towards the Seoul metropolitan
  area has
• been accelerated , number of University
  graduates from outside of
• Seoul entering the civil service has
  dramatically decreased.
• To solve this problem, several reform
  initiatives have been taken 
• to increase regional talents  in the
  civil service.
• In addition to women and the disabled,
  affirmative actions for
• scientists and engineers, and residents
  from outside Seoul
• metro-area can be regarded as an unique
  effort to build a
• Korean style representative bureaucracy.

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4. Developing Competency from Generalists to
Specialists

• Since the Korean civil service system was based
  on
• rank classification and a closed career
  system, it was
• difficult to foster the expertise of civil
  servants.
• The Participatory government decided to
  implement
• a comprehensive plan for fostering the
  expertise of
• civil servants. It includes recruiting more
  specialists
• into the civil service, institutionalizing a
  career development program (CDP), and improving
  training programs.

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1) Recruiting more Specialists into the Civil
Service

• Several initiatives were taken to recruit more
  specialists.
• Each ministry and agency's discretionary
  recruitment
• power was enlarged.
• The methods of recruiting outside specialists
  are diversified.
•       The number of recruiting personnel from
  non-competitive
• examinations, which require certain
  qualification requirements
• such as degrees in certain fields and
  certificates of professional
• qualifications, is increased.

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2) Improving Career Management (1)

• Civil servants need not only specialized
  knowledge and skills for
• performing jobs, but also accumulated
  knowledge acquired from the
• experience of the job.
• The length in service at a position of Korean
  civil servants
• are remarkably short. During the 4 year
  period from 1997 to
• 2001, the average length in service of
  senior civil servants
• (director-general and above) was only 385
  days, and of division
• chiefs, about 416 days.
• These are too short to acquire experiential
  knowledge.
•     To solve these problems, the minimum
  length in service at a
• position is to be prolonged from 1 year
  to one and half year
• for the division chiefs (grade 4
  level), and 2 year for grade
• level 5 and below.

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2) Improving Career Management (2)

• The Career Development Program (CDP) was also
• introduced from 2006.
• Each ministry is obliged to classify its work
  into
• several professional categories, and to
  appoint staffs
• based on their specialized categories. 
• A "? type career path is to be applied for
• administrative occupational groups.
• The "T" type career path is to be applied
  for science and engineering occupational groups.

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3) Education and Training 

•  
• Education and training functions were
  decentralized
• to ministries and agencies.
• Training institutes are to be specialized. 26
  institutes
• of the central government and 20 institutes of
  local
• governments should run professional training
  for the
• staff of its affiliated organizations.
• Oversee training including 11 with Pitt GSPIA
  were enlarged.

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5. Performance-based Management and Appraisal
System

• Traditionally, appraisal and rewards for civil
• servants in Korea were based on the seniority
• principle. This resulted in the weakness of
  civil
• service competitiveness.
• In this regard, performance-based
• management was introduced. Among them,
  performance-based pay and performance contract
  will be mentioned.

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1) Performance-based Pay

• In 1999, the Korean government introduced an
  annual salary scheme in the central government.
  
• Under this new salary scheme, the level of
  compensation is differentiated within each pay
  grade band depending on their performance.
• The Participatory Government strengthened the
  performance-based pay scheme.
•     Performance-related pay portion among salary
• will be increased from 3 to 10 for civil
  servants
• in 2010.

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2) The Performance Management System

• The Kim Dae-jung administration adopted two kinds
  of performance management programs Management by
  Objectives (MBO) for managers of grade 4 and
  above, and Work Performance Rating for grade 5
  and below.
• The Participatory Government newly introduced the
  Performance Agreement, an appraisal system for
  managers of grade 4 and above. It is an
  individual agreement between the Agency chief and
  a senior manager regarding the manager's performan
  ce objectives and measurement indicators. Thus
  the agreement links evaluation and rewards. 

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6. From Centralized to Decentralized Personnel
Management(1)

• The Roh administration has actively pursued
  autonomy and decentralization.
• Deregulation and decentralization of personnel
  management authority from the CSC to each
  ministry and agency was actively pursed.
• The lump-sum compensation budget program
  is noteworthy. Under this program, each ministry
  and agency can exert considerable discretionary
  powers in deciding organizational structures and
  composition of workforce within the limit of the
  lump-sum compensation budget.

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6. From Centralized to Decentralized Personnel
Management(2)

• From 2006, a pilot program of lump-sum
  compensation budget is implemented in the
  CSC, the MOGAHA, and the MPB.
• Government-wide implementation is scheduled for
  2007. As a result, more flexible, efficient, and
  decentralized personnel management is expected in
  the future.

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V. Summary and Conclusions

• The modern civil service system of Korea was
• founded during the Park Administration. Major
• characteristics of the system can be summarized
  as
• merit-based, rank oriented, closed career, and
• centralized management system.
• The Korean civil service system had been
• instrumental during the period of
  government-led
• growth. Partly due to the civil service system,
  the
• Korean economy had made a phenomenal progress.

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• However, 1997 financial crisis instigated the
  reform.
• The civil service system of Korea experiences a
  paradigm shift from a rank oriented, closed
  career, seniority-based, and centralized
  management system to a position oriented, open,
  performance-based, and decentralized system.

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Factors Explaining Change

• The 1997 Financial crisis and economic recession
• Consensus among HRM experts on reform
• Continuous Support from political leadership

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• For the success of the Reform
• 1) The government needs support of the
  civil servants and
• the general public. 
•          
• 2) Implementation timing and sequences
  should be carefully
• considered.
• .
• 3) Reform is not an end itself.
•    The reform activities must enable the
  Korean civil service
• system to meet the new challenges of the
  changing
• environment, and to enhance national
  competitiveness.