The Management of

Senior Civil Servants in Korea

October 6, 2003

Pan S. Kim
Professor of Public Administration
Yonsei University, Korea
E-mail: pankim@dragon.yonsei.ac.kr
 Ministries
 Finance and Economy  Unification
 Education and Human  Justice
Resources Development  Government
Administration & Home
 Foreign Affairs and Trade
Affairs(MOGAHA)
 National Defense  Science and Technology
 Culture and Tourism  Agriculture and Forestry
 Commerce, Industry and  Information and
Energy Communication
 Health and Welfare  Environment
 Labor  Construction and
 Maritime Affairs and Transportation
Fisheries
 Gender Equality 2
 The Civil Service Commission &
The Ministry of Government Administration & Home
Affairs
 The Civil Service The Ministry of
Commission (CSC) is a Government
central agency to Administration and
formulate personnel Home Affairs
policy of the
administration (MOGAHA) is
 Composed of a responsible for the
chairperson and 4 implementation of
commissioners personnel policies.
* Established in May 24,  Consolidation of
1999
HRM function?
3
 Key feature of the Civil Service System

 Career vs. Non-career civil service

- 1.7% of all civil servants are non-career
services (as of December 31, 2001)

 Merit system vs. Spoils system

 Rank system vs. Job classification system

- Generalist vs. Specialist

4
 Closed system vs. Open system
Classification of National Civil Service
 Career Service
 General Service: Grade1-9, 18 OG, 75 Series
 Specific Service: Judges, Prosecutors, Police,
Educational,Diplomatic, Military Service, etc.
 Technical Service: simple, technical work (Grade
1-10)
 Non-Career Service
 Political Service: Ministers, Vice-ministers,
elected officials
 Excepted Service: No permanent job status;
personal secretaries, etc.
 Contracted Service: professionals, scientists…..
5
Number of Civil Servants (1), as of December 31, 2001

The Legislative 3,211 (0.4%)

The Judicial 12, 817 (1.5%)

The Executive 850,032(97.9%)

National 548,003(63.1%)
Local 302,029(34.8%)

Other Constitutional
2,060 (0.2%)
Organs
 Total Number of Civil Servants
868,120
 Total Population: 45,985,289 (in 2000) 53 6
:1
No. of National Civil Servants (The Executive)
Political Service 103
Excepted Service 2,347(0.4%)
Specific Service 389,936 (71.1%)
Educational Service 291,257(53.1%)
Police & Fire Service 97,215(17.7%)
Foreign Service 1,464 (0.3%)
General Service (CORE) 90,610(16.5%)
Technical Service 63,556(11.9%)
Labor Service 1,390(0.3%)
Contract Service 61
 Total:548,003 as of December 31, 2001
7
* Core workforce  General Service (90,610)
No. of Women in the Executive (National+Local)
As of December 31, 2001

Total General Foreign Education Police& Judges& Technical Except- Labor Othe
Service Service al Service Fire Prosecut- Service ed Service -rs
ors Service
Total 843,329 273,284 1,372 287,367 118,217 1,187 147,416 7,596 4,421 2,469
(A)
Female 278,225 64,078 67 168,746 2,454 49 36,831 3,573 1,438 794
(B)
Ratio 23.4 4.9 58.7 2.1 4.1 25.0 47.0 32.5 32.2
(B/A)
33.0

Yr 2001
No. of Women in the General Service (The Exec.)
G1 to G5
G6~G9 &
Total
Subtotal G1 G2 G3 G4 G5 Research

No. of total
employees
273,284 28,745 72 372 993 6,226 21,082 244,539

Female(B) 64,078 1,051 0 2 19 157 873 8 63,027

Ratio(B/A) 23.4 3.7 0 0.5 1.9 2.5 4.1 25.8
Methods of Recruitment

 Open/Competitive Entrance Examination

 Exam for Grade 5 (Senior Civil Service Exam)

 Exam for Grade 7

 Exam for Grade 9 (Entry Level Exam)

 Non-competitive selection examination

 To prevent a backdoor entrance by political or personal
patronage, the National Civil Service Act prescribes twelve
cases in which non-competitive recruitment and selection
is allowed.
9
Affirmative Action Plans
Quarter System for Women Civil Servants
Yr 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
G5 20% 20%
10% 13% 15%
G7 20% 20% 23% 25%
G9 - - - 25% 30%

Quarter System for the Disabled

 Every ministry should retain more than 2% of disabled
employees  needs to be “model employer”
 To achieve this, 5% of new employees should be reserved
annually for the disabled

* People in Science & Technology; Local Colleges? 10

Ways of Promotion
 Promotion to Grades 4-8
 Performance evaluation(50%)

 Seniority(length of service) (30%)

 Training results(20%)
- Eligibility list for each class (same grade, same
occupational series) is compiled twice a year

 Promotion to Grade 5
- Examination may be required in some ministries

 Promotion to G3(DG) or Higher

 Screened and recommended by the Promotion Review
Committee/the Civil Service Commission

 Performance, Abilities and Seniority

11
Retirement Age

General Service Technical Service

G5 and above : 60 50 – 57
G6 and below : 57 Depending on job contents

Honorary Retirement System

 For those who have worked more than 20 years and wish
to retire
 Paid Honorary Retired Allowance
(Average of $ 20,000 in 1999)
 Allowed to be Honorary Promotion
12
Pay Structure
Pay = Base Salary + Allowances + Welfare Expenses

Base Salary: 10 schedules by job categories.

Allowances:
Common Allowances (5 types) : Diligence allowance,
Seniority Allowance ………
Special Allowances (35 types) : High Risk Allowance,
special Task Allowance………
Extra Work Allowances (3 types)………
Other Allowances (5 types) : Performance Bonus,
Allowance for children’s Educational Expenses……
Welfare Expenses:
6 types 13
Salary Table 2002

Grade/ Basic Welfare Total

(Unit : US $)
Common
Pay-step Salary Allowances Expenses Salary
(M o n th ly ra te )
Minister 4,594 893 5,487
Vice-Minister 4,128 704 4,832
1 / 22 2,132 1,023 1,250 4,405
3 / 22 1,729 847 981 3,557
5 / 19 1,322 524 673 2,519
7 / 13 888 341 486 1,715
9 / 4 487 134 347 968
5/1 726 182 500 1,408
Initial
P a y -s te p
7/1 526 132 381 1,039
9/1 410 102 324 836

14
5 years Plan to increase Pay level

100%
98%
97%
95%
91%
Pay level Compared to the private sector
2000 Yr 2001 Yr 2002 Yr 2003 Yr 2004 Yr

 Conduct Annual survey on the level of pay in the private

sector (700 companies)
 Narrowing pay differentials year by year
 Introduce a contingency system by pay-adjusting allowances

15
Major Sectoral Reforms
 Financial Sector
 put an end to governmental control and enhance autonomy
of financial institutions
 5 banks closed and 9 merged to larger ones ; 1 sold to
foreign investors, 16 out of 30 merchant banks to be shut
down
 Labor Market
 Labor, Management, Government - Tripartite Committee
established (reform through democratic consensus)
 provide liquidity in the labor market through introduction of lay off
and work dispatch system
 expand social safety net

 Corporate Sector
 revamp corporate governance
 major conglomerates to restructure and swap business
lines and to stop financial cross-guarantees among
subsidiaries 16
 Public Sector

 For a small, but efficient government

 For an open and transparent government

 For a highly competitive government

 Toward an electronic-government

 Restructure the government organizations

 Improve regulatory functions
 Enhance competition and efficiency in the government
 Civil Service reform……………. 17
Major Civil Service Reform: Open Post System
Past: Closed system in the past, except for entry positions in
grades 9, 7 and 5 (Vacancies have been filled mostly through
internal promotion)

Present: Open Post System (OPS) was established (20% of senior

positions(142) are open to outside the government)

- Experts from the private sector are expected to be

employed

- Employment conditions are based on contracts

18
 Job Posting

 Vacant positions are posted publicly: media

and government homepages(www.csc.go.kr)
 Any eligible candidates are encouraged to
apply for the posted position.
 Applicants are screened and interviewed by
the selection committee.
 The best qualified person will be selected.19
 Other Reform Measures

 Introduction of 360 degree evaluation

- Most agencies use it for various purposes
 Promotion of Personnel Exchanges:
- Central agency to central agency
- National government to local authorities
- Local authorities to local authorities
- Public sector to private sector
 Employment of foreign experts by contract in the
20
field of education, scientific research, etc.
 PRP (I): Annual Merit Incremental Program
- Application : Director General and
Higher (Grades 1~3)
- Components of pay
 fixed pay portion: minimum and maximum range for each
grade, the amount of the pay for incumbents is calculated
by their base monthly salary, quarterly bonus, and other
allowances
 variable pay portion: 4 categories of pay rate is decided by
performance appraisal based on MBO
 Performance pay rate:
• Excellent: S grade(top 10%)  8% of
performance standard amount in each grade
• Outstanding: A grade(30%)  5%
• Normal: B grade(50%)  3%
• Unsatisfactory: C grade(10%)  0% 21
PRP (II): Performance Bonus Program
- Application : Director(grade 3 or 4) level and lower
- Form of payment : a lump-sum bonus
- Bonus amount
Bonuses are calculated by multiplying standard
basic salary by the performance bonus rate

- Performance Bonus Rate:

• Excellent (top 10%)  110% of standard basic salary
• Outstanding (30%)  80%
• Normal (50%)  40%
• Unsatisfactory(10%) 0%

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New Agenda: Senior Management

Motive to Reform
 Financial Crisis & IMF Bailout in 1997
 Low World Competitiveness
 High Rigidity (Closed System)
 Lack of Leadership on the Top
 Lack of Competency & Responsiveness
 Necessity of Cultural Change: life-long
job security and lack of performance
management 23
 Number of Senior Civil
Servants
 Grade 1: Assistant Minister Level: 201
 Grade 2: Direct-General Level: 545
 Grade 3: Direct-General Level: 514
 HAVE ALREADY OPENED UP 20 PERCENT FOR
OPEN COMPETITION
 Excludes positions in the Office of the President, the
Office of the Prime Minister, the National Intelligence
Service, the Board of Audit and Inspection
 Excludes positions of the Specific Service (military,
police, fire service, and prosecutors) and fixed term
positions

24
 Number of Positions for
Open Competition
 142 positions as of September 18,
2003

 Filled 124 positions: 72: 28

 89 positions (71.8%) by internal recruitment
 35 positions (28.2%) by external recruitment
(30 from the private sector; and 5 from other
government agencies)
25
 The “Average” OPS
Characteristics
 Age: 50 years old
 Education: master’s degree (46%)
 Doctoral degree (30%)
 Employment: Career civil servants (62%)
 Contact-based employment: 38%
 Period of Employment: 2.1 years
(a term of no more than 5 years)
 Gender: Male dominated
 Women: only 4 persons (3.3%)
26
 Positive Effects of OPS
- openness & responsiveness

- competition: global competitiveness

- stimulation (cultural change):

build up a performance culture

- improvement of expertise:
self-directed learning
capacity building
27
 Problems
 Could not recruit the best of the best: lack of
attraction in terms of pay, benefits, and job
security

 Possibility of Political Influence

 Low Representation of Women

 Fragmented HRM System: needs more

comprehensive system for executives
28
Korean Government’s Plan to
Establish the SES/SCS
 2001: The Civil Service Commission
considered to establish it, but failed to
pursue
 2003: Establishment of the SES/SCS was
included in the “HRM Reform Roadmap”
 Became part of HRM reform agendas
 President Roh (2003-2008) supports HRM
reform
29
 Current Situation:
Too Fragmented
 The management of senior civil servants has been
improved in the last few years, but still fragmented and
under-developed
 The Civil Service Commission reviews their recruitment
and promotion
 Each ministry lacks autonomous personnel authority
 MOGAHA handles MBO: Their pays are determined on
the basis of the appraisal result of the management-
by-objective (MBO)
 CSC deals with PRP: This year’s annual pay =
previous year’s annual pay + performance-related pay
+/- this year’s adjustment pay
30
 Motives of Further Changes
 Inbreeding: internally promoted workforce;
lack of nation-wide perspective; lack of
competitiveness
 Fragmented management
 Lack of strategic & systematic HRD
 Poor performance management
 Weak reward system
 Needs to “make the managers manage!”
(to be “Change Agents!)
31
Issues for Further Development
 Scope of Senior Management?
- Director-General or Higher or
- Director or Higher
* Whether to include: prosecutors,
policemen, and diplomats
 Competencies: need to develop a new
framework (personal qualities, leadership
qualities & management competencies?)
 Separate system from the mid- and lower-
level civil servants?
32
Issues for Further Development—continued
 Recruitment?
- by selection committees
- by assessment centers
- by entrance competitions
 Appointment? Job Security?
- career
- renewable term
 Performance Appraisal and Pay Scheme?
- performance plan or agreement
- performance-related remuneration pay
 Training (management & leadership development)?

33
Issues for Further Development—continued
 The role of CSC: integrated management of senior
civil servants?
 Personnel Autonomy:
Each Minister’s Interest vs.
Integration of the CSC

 Mobility vs. Expertise

 Potential Monopolization of Elites
Particularly from the Economy-Related
Ministries
 Effects of the Spoils System

34
 Implementation Plan
 Minimization of Political Influence & Internal
Resistance
 Improvement of Performance Management and
Provision of HRD Opportunities for SES/SCS
Candidates
 Devolution of Personnel Authority to Each Ministry:
Deregulation of Personnel Authority for the Minister
and the Establishment of HRM Department in the
Ministry
 Development of HRM Infrastructure: Job Analysis,
Development of Competency Model, and
Diversification of Recruitments…

35
 Time Schedule
 2003: Launched a Research Project for
Establishment of SES/SCS
 2003: Launched a Target Group’s Job
Analysis of the Central Government
 Early 2004: Development of the Basic Plan
for Establishment of SES/SCS
 Early 2004: Policy Hearing for the
Establishment of SEC/SCS
 Late 2004 or Early 2005: Revision of the
National Civil Service Act
36