[Opinion] Expert Officials Need To Be Trained

As the Dong-Gang dam construction plan was nullified, a lot of people welcomed it. And the plan to construct the five dams in Nakdong River system was also called off by the opposition of the environmental organizations and the inhabitants. But as the harsh drought attacked the whole nation, the civic organizations could no longer oppose to the government`s declaration to construct more dams. Moreover, due to the recent torrential downpour that victimized a lot of people, the government might have more confidence to pursue the dam construction plan.

The nation`s great tasks should be pursued on the basis of the convincing fundamental plan in order not to be controlled by the civil appeals and the natural disasters. But for Korea, most basic plans are only in name or nothing but the simple construction plans. For example, the six top-cities have suffered from the insurmountable debts because they constructed the subways that could not appropriate for even the operating capital. And the Korea Highway Corporation established the plan to extend the highway from 2000km to 6000km by 2020, despite the fact that it could not pay even the interest for its debt.

In order to set up the convincing plan, the government must possess the profound expert knowledge and the technological information. But our government does not have the accumulated information as well as the experts. The participants in the international academic conference are usually comprised of the academic circle, the government and the business circle. But our government officials can hardly be found even among the audience, let alone the stage. Moreover, the officials do not posses the professional terms to converse with the experts and thus dodge contact with the experts.

The reason why there is no expert within the government is very simple. It is because that the government has blocked the chance to accumulate the expert knowledge by the rotating position system and further has been negligent in inviting the experts from outside. On the other hand, however, because the experts voluntarily participate in the civic organizations, it is hard for the government to persuade these experts with the plausible logic. Who knows if the civic organizations will determine the nation`s main plans beyond their role to speak for the citizens?

Why has the government avoided the experts? One reason would be the government`s high-ranking officials` genetic attribute to perfectly control all the subordinate officials with an order. Naturally, when the government wants to manage the nation`s affairs with the political maneuvering, the subservient followers are more needed than the experts who often challenge the decisions.

In the summer a couple of years ago when there was a flood in Han River, it once became the urgent question when the floodgate should open. Of course, the floodgate should be controlled with the long experience and the computer simulations because it requires the accurate analysis and the judgment. Naturally, it should be controlled by the experts. But I was once astonished by the fact that a general administrative official who was newly assigned to the position had the authority to control the floodgate.

Because even the tasks of the professional fields have been politically determined, the experts are frustrated or become the docile servants. We live in a highly developing world to extent that even it is hard for even the experts to catch up in their own fields. It is ridiculous that Korea, which has dreamed of joining the advanced countries, has been functioning without the experts. Furthermore, I cannot but worry about our nation`s destiny because it seems that the experts also adhere only to the interests of the groups to which they belong.

Shin Bu-Yong (President of the Teritek) btshin@teritek.com