President-elect Park announces major government restructuring

Posted on : 2013-01-16 16:29 KST Modified on : 2019-10-19 20:29 KST
Park is apparently preparing a bigger role for government compared to the outgoing Lee administration
 chairperson of president-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition committee
chairperson of president-elect Park Geun-hye’s transition committee

By Kim Jong-chul and Seok Jin-hwan, staff reporters

Under the Park Geun-hye administration, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs will return, while two new ministries will be created: the Ministry of Future Creativity and Science and the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries. This government restructuring will also see the Ministry of Knowledge Economy become the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Resources, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security renamed the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, and the office of the minister without portfolio shut down.

On Jan. 15, the presidential transition committee for president-elect Park Geun-hye, announced its final government restructuring plan, which will reorganize the existing 17 ministries and 18 independent agencies into 20 ministries and 17 independent agencies.

 announces government restructing that will be made under the new administration at a press conference at the committee’s headquarters in Seoul’s Samcheong neighborhood
announces government restructing that will be made under the new administration at a press conference at the committee’s headquarters in Seoul’s Samcheong neighborhood

According to the plan, the deputy prime minister for economic affairs, who will provide oversight for the Ministry of the Economy, will also serve as the Minister of Strategy and Finance.

Transition committee chairperson Kim Yong-joon said they are bringing back the deputy prime minister of economic affairs “to overcome the financial crisis in Korea and overseas and to help spark an economic revival.” The position had been eliminated by the Lee Myung-bak administration.

The Future Creativity and Science Ministry, which was a major plank of Park’s election campaign, will combine all of the tasks related to science, technology, and IT which are currently distributed among various departments, including the science and technology policy handled by the current Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

In particular, work promoting information and communications technology, which has been handled by the current Korea Communications Commission, will be delegated to this new ministry, and a vice minister will be put in charge of this.

As a consequence, the National Science and Technology Commission will be dissolved, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will come under the umbrella of the new Future Creativity and Science Ministry, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology will emerge from the shuffle in a reduced form as the Ministry of Education.

While the Korea Communications Commission will continue to exist, it will no longer promote broadcasting and communication, with its functions instead limited to regulatory work.

With the return of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, which was shut down under the Lee Myung-bak administration, the Korea Coast Guard’s affiliation will be switched to this ministry. As it is no longer responsible for maritime and fishery affairs, the Ministry of Land, Transport and Maritime Affairs will become the Ministry of Land and Transportation, while the Ministry for Food Agriculture Forestry and Fisheries will change its name to the Ministry of Agriculture Forestry and Livestock. The location of the offices of the newly restored ministry has not yet been determined.

In addition, the transition committee has also decided to move the commerce work currently overseen by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade to the Ministry of Knowledge Economy. The move is aimed to improve the environment for corporations and commerce while strengthening the professionalism of commerce and bargaining.

As a consequence, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy will be upgraded to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Resources, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade will become the more streamlined Foreign Ministry.

One of Park’s other campaign pledges was to aid small and medium enterprises. With this in mind, the committee decided to transfer the jurisdiction of policy making for medium-sized companies and strategic planning for regional specialization from its current location at the Ministry of Knowledge Economy to the Small and Medium Business Administration.

The committee has also decided to reinforce government organizations charged with keeping Koreans safe in their everyday lives. To this end, the Korea Food and Drug Administration, currently an external agency of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, will be elevated to ministry status under the supervision of the Prime Minister.

In addition, the Ministry of Public Administration and Security will be changed to the Ministry of Security and Public Administration, to reinforce its work in helping Koreans enjoy lives that are free from danger.

Through this reorganization, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, and the Ministry of Information and Communication, abolished by the Lee Myung-bak administration five years ago, have been effectively brought back to life. As the “small government” concept touted by the Lee administration is discarded, it is expected that the role of government will expand.

Though the reorganization creates two new cabinet-level ministries, the dissolution of the minister without portfolio means that there will only be one new cabinet member, bringing the total from 16 to 17.

One interesting characteristic of Park’s reorganization is that it is fairly large for a conservative government. When conservative Kim Young-sam came to power in 1993, there were 19 ministries and 14 agencies, but the tally changed to 19 ministries and 16 agencies when the liberals took over under Kim Dae-jung in 1998 and increased further to 22 ministries and 16 agencies when Roh Moo-hyun extended the liberal control of government in 2003.

When the conservatives came back to power with the election of Lee Myung-bak in 2008, the government shrank to 17 ministries and 18 agencies. Park has increased this slightly to 20 ministries and 17 agencies.

The restructuring of government looks to set up so-called “control towers” that are to take charge of integration and communication in each area, and these too can be seen as another aspect of big government. The Ministry of Strategy and Finance, at the deputy minister level, will take shape as one of these control towers. It is prepared to find the funds necessary to implement Park’s campaign pledges by adjusting budgets for the various departments, and it will also take steps to combat the financial crisis.

The key departments in the restructuring are the Future Creativity and Science Ministry, a so-called “mammoth-class” ministry that will take charge of finding new growth engines, and the Ministry of Safety and Public Administration, which will be responsible for ensuring public safety.

Two more potential control towers are the Blue House National Security Office and the Social Welfare Council that is overseen by the Prime Minister’s office, both of which will be established later. These will provide oversight in the areas of foreign policy and security, and social welfare, respectively.

The reappearance of the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, the reinstatement of the deputy prime minister of economic affairs and the emphasis on control towers in each area are similar in some respects to the way government was organized under the Roh Moo-hyun administration.

The “responsible minister” system was also attempted during the Roh administration, and the heavy load being placed on the Future Creativity and Science Ministry brings to mind Roh’s decision to promote the Minister of Science and Technology to Deputy Prime Minister and give him additional responsibility.

However, others wonder whether, as power shifts to the newly created deputy prime minister of economic affairs, the responsible prime minister system that Park promised will lose its meaning. People close to Park are starting to line up behind the idea that the prime minister should not be a powerful figure with expertise but rather a bureaucrat who is easy to control.

Yet another assessment focuses on the fact that it remains unclear what exactly will be done by the Future Creativity and Science Department, which is the most striking feature of the government restructuring. It is difficult to predict what the layout of the government will be over the long term.

In addition, there is also concern that, since Park’s government has placed the emphasis on “growth,” it may pay less attention to economic sovereignty and issues related to vulnerable members of society, such as workers and women.

There are at least two other items that are cause for concern. One is the announcement that commerce and bargaining will be separated from foreign policy and assigned to the Ministry of the Economy, with a corresponding reduction in function.

The other is the fact that there has been no indication of any special thought given to the Ministry of Employment and Labor, which all too often views the “labor” problem as an “employment” problem. There was also no specific reference made to the role or status of the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

 

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