Lecture 11 Understanding the Korean Bureaucracy Introduction to public personnel administration Spring

The Early Days of the Governmental Bureaucracy The Republic of Korea (South Korea) was established in 1948 and the first administration was led by President Rhee. The early Korean bureaucracy had laid greater emphasis on large-scale heavy industrialization and economic development, which was mostly driven by government, not by the private sector. The autocracy or meritocracy led by elites was dominant in administration and later taken over by military forces. 2

The Early Days of the Governmental Bureaucracy (continued) Some scholars (O’Donnell 1973) explain the Korean government, up until 1980s, was driven by bureaucratic authoritarianism, which is anything but liberal democracy. The Korean bureaucracy in the 1970s, which is called “Yushin regime,” showed traits similar to those found in the Bureaucratic Authoritarian model, which is often found in Latin American countries such as Brazil, Argentina, and Chile. 3

The Economic Development and the Role of Government (1961—1979) The period is highlighted by a high rate of economic growth driven by President Park Jung-Hee which replaced democracy with economic development as the main legitimation of its rule. A series of “five-year economic development plans” had focused on the development of the national economy and the export-oriented industrialization policy. The role of the governmental bureaucracy has been viewed as the most important driving force of the success of the economic developmental policy in the 1960s and the 1970s. 4

The Economic Development and the Role of Government (1961—1979) The Yusin constitution was imposed since the late 1972 and the popular sector was excluded from politics—no competitive elections, prohibited strikes, restricted labor unions, and violated human rights. The national economy was driven by a few higher-level bureaucrats and socioeconomic elits. Human rights Redistribution, social equity, and welfare were ignored not the important concerns under the slogan of “economic growth first, distribution later.” 5

The Korean bureaucracy had been overdeveloped? The post- war Korean governmental bureaucracy was built as an "anticommunist bulwark," with the coercive state apparatus overdeveloped relative to the civil society. The "overdeveloped government" was further strengthened by the impact of the Korean War in 1950 to manage the postwar reconstruction projects and to maintain social order. When the government launched the project of industrialization based on the export platform, it already had strong coercive and administrative organizations to mobilize and allocate manpower and resources. 6

The Economic Crisis and Administrative Reform The Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s motivated the governmental bureaucracy to focus on reforming the old inefficient system of public administration. In fact, after Korea was fully democratized in the early 1990s, every President established an organization in charge of government reform and utilized it as a major vehicle for promoting organizational change and development in the public sector. 7

Administrative Reform Efforts (1993—2013) The Kim Young-sam administration ( ) and the Administrative Innovation Committee - Aimed to promote organizational restructuring, management reform, improvement of service delivery, de-regulation, and anti-corruption The Kim Dae-jung administration ( ) and the Administrative Reform Committee - Initiated organizational restructuring, management reform, de-regulation, anti-corruption, public enterprise reform, and building e-government. 8

The Rise of Democracy and Social Equity and Welfare The Roh Moo hyun administration ( ) and the Presidential Committee on Government Innovation and Decentralization - The PCGID prepared roadmaps for public sector reform including general administrative reform, personnel reform, decentralization and local autonomy, budget and taxation reform, building e-government, and management reform of public records and archives. The personnel reform roadmap was the firstly completed reform plan in early The Lee Myung-bak administration ( ) and the Presidential Council on National Competitiveness 9

Sources: Pan Suk Kim (2009). Moving forward for better performance management in government: The case of South Korea. Conference paper 10

The Overview of the Korean Government The Korean government is composed of two-levels of government: central and local government The central government: independent agencies under the President and 17 ministries The civil service system: a closed rank-in-person system with 9 ranks; two ranks of senior executive services (SES) 11

The Characteristics of Korean Bureaucracy Meritocracy Authority of government and Confucian culture Hierarchical human relations Generalists vs. specialists Emphasis on Informal Relationship and Personal favoritism 12

Meritocracy Bureaucracy in Korea traditionally constituted the high prestige strata of the society. The overall the nature of Korean bureaucracy is similar to that of meritocracy that focuses on the intellectual orientation of individuals and emphasizes their professional ability and achievement. 13

Authority of Government and Confucian Culture The influence from the Confucian culture tend to reinforce the authority of Korean bureaucracy as the ruling body. The modern government had played a vital role in economic development since the 1960s and expanded its administrative power over the public. The influx of military trained personnel in Korean bureaucracy also reinforced authority of governmental bureaucracy. 14

Hierarchical Human Relations The human relations within Korean bureaucracy are characterized by a strong hierarchical order. A superior is likely to manage the behavior of the subordinates related to legal conformity and task performance and, in addition, is likely to influence decision making and even private matters of the subordinates. Most of the executive-branch agencies are structurally less independent from the Chief executive (in comparison to independent agencies under the US federal government). 15

Hierarchical Human Relations Subordinates in Korean bureaucracy are not likely to experience much frustration when faced with the authoritarian style of supervision by superiors. The relationship between bureaucracy and the public is also hierarchical. Frequently, supervisors are likely to exercise coercion to accomplish goals, taking it for granted to sacrifice subordinates' interests. 16

Generalists vs. Specialists The civil service system of the Korean government is a closed system and hires generalists. In recent years, Korean government attempt to open the system to external specialists, but the basic structure is dominated by generalists who have actually been valued more than specialists. The influence from traditional Confucianism that values generalists more than specialists?? 17

Emphasis on Informal Relationship and Inequity Rationality or fairness may rely on objective standards of rule and regulation: selection and advancement based on job- related qualification of individuals. However, within Korean bureaucracy irrational personal favoritism still plays a role. Promotions may also be affected by personal favoritism. 18

Emphasis on Informal Relationship and Inequity Informal groups or informal networking has played important roles within Korean bureaucracy. They may protect and advance the members' interests within the bureaucracy, but also create inequity against ones who are not a member of the informal group or outside the network. ex) Good-old boys network 19