Roh’s Waning Term and Burgeoning Government Payroll

The Roh administration passed a plan yesterday under which 20 government agencies will put 582 more employees on their payrolls.

This year alone, Roh has hired 14,504 new government workers. Throughout his 5-year term, he has put an aggregate number of 58,206 new employees on the government payroll in the name of structural reorganizations, which have taken place 560 times. When Roh took office in February 2003, 885,164 government workers were on the payroll. Now, the South Korean government sends paychecks to 951,920 people, a 7.5% increase.

At a cabinet meeting yesterday, presided over by the prime minister, the administration passed yet another reorganization plan and amendments to the relevant regulations.

According to the plan, the Ministry of Information and Telecommunication will hire 117 more people, citing the need to staff the 2nd Government IT Center in Gwangju City and new post offices. Likewise, the National Police Agency will hire 114 new officers to man the new police stations in Incheon and Jeju. Further, the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs will put 100 more people on its payroll to staff the newly founded Presidential Archive Facility. Moreover, the prosecution will employ 98 more sheriffs to better enforce the newly amended criminal procedure. On top of this, various ministries will also follow the suit: 29 more workers will be hired by the National Statistical Office, 25 by the Agricultural Ministry, 24 by the Marine Ministry, 11 by the Small and Medium Business Administration, and 7 by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family.

Kim Chang-ho, the head of the National Information Agency, explained, “This will be the last increase under the Roh administration. We have to hire more people to better serve the public, especially in the areas of police, patent administration, and the like.”

South Koreans, however, do not buy this explanation. They suspect the government agencies are taking advantage of the lame duck president to serve their own interests.

The government payroll has been on the steady rise with an addition of 2,577 people in July, 93 in August, and 370 in September this year.

The Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs confirmed that Roh hired 3,225 government workers in 2003, 9,700 workers in 2004, 12,590 workers in 2005, and 18,187 workers in 2006.

myzodan@donga.com