Government Officials Lay Their Works asside

The government is limping.

President Kim Dae-Jung resigned from his presidency of the New Millennium Democratic Party, and the government announced an overall reshuffling of the Cabinet in December. Thus the government officials are busy reading the situation, putting aside their works. By the influence of the political instability, government officials who are responsible for the everyday national administration also seem to have gone astray.

Even though international circumstances are rapidly changing by the war against terrorist attack, by the launch of New Round, and by the entry of China to WTO, and domestic problems such as business and financial restructuring should be addressed, the government has failed to respond properly due to its tie to the political circle. Furthermore, the chronic irresponsibility and the negligence of the bureaucrats are already paralyzing the function of administration service.

In addition, since the Grand National Party is moving forward with the policies that directly oppose against the government, including the 2 percent deduction of corporation tax, the separation of the health insurance budget, the extension of the retirement age from 62 to 63, the revision of the laws of Inter-Korean Exchange and Cooperation and Inter-Korean Cooperation Fund, and the revision of the Finance Identification system, the consistency of the government administration is to suffer its consequences.

To make matter worse, GNP is the majority in the Congress and, by the resignation of the party`s president, the government cannot expect a full support from the ruling party.

An official of the Finance and Economy Ministry said, ``in terms of tax laws, more than 30 bills or appeals by the lawmakers are filed on the table.``

By the setbacks of the core policies that have been driven by the government, bureaucrats have lost their motivation. An official of the Prime Minister`s office pointed out, ``by the stumbling of the core policies such as education reformation, pharmacy-clinic separation, and the 5 labor-day system, government officials have been discouraged very much.``

Anticipating the Cabinet reshuffling in the ruling minor and the opposition majority situation, more political bureaucrats are eager for the lining up before political circle. Therefore, the Prime Minister`s office distributed letters to all departments, advising to wipe out the attitudes of opportunism and self-protectionism of the government officials.

Chang Seng-Woo, board member of Korea Monetary Board, warned, ``because of the financial crisis in Argentina and Turkey and the surge of China in the international market, next year will be a crucial period. If bureaucrats are laying their works aside under the influence of the political situation, Korea may fall to a second crisis.``

hcs@donga.com