Top Gov`t Officials In a Rage

Chung Chan-yong, presidential advisor for personnel have rocked Korean officialdom with his statements. Chung said on the 19th, “for a public official, moving up to top level is enough, and it depends on their luck whether they take core government posts or not. If they are not lucky enough, they will stay at home with their family members.”

As the remark has been reported, top-ranking government officials felt not only angered but also betrayed.

A top official in the Ministry of Government Administration and Home Affairs (MOGAHA) got infuriated, saying, “I have been loyal to the nation as a public servant. How dare he could be so sarcastic to officials who get kicked out?”

His colleague said, “Chung told top officials to go play with their wife. What is it supposed to mean? He rid us of the pride as public servant.”

A high ranker in the Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries said that Chung had went too far making such a derogatory remark to those who sacrificed their lives for the nation and that as a residential adviser, Chung should have been more prudent in choosing words.

Some criticized that Chung`s remark runs counter to the personnel management policy of the new government. Since the inauguration of the `participatory government`, Chung Wa Dae and the government has made it clear that they would break the deep-rooted seniority system and introduce the merit-based management system.

But Chung dwarfed the government`s policy by likening the career of high-ranking officials to lotteries.

“Telling top officials to leave their fate to chance is just like telling them to pick up connections with a certain candidate during a presidential election,” A senior official in MOGAHA said, “Listening to what Chung said, I doubt that the government`s ambitious policy for personnel management would work out well.”

An Education Ministry official also said, “I understand that whatever regime comes to power, it tends to rock the boat this way. But this time is too much. Chung`s remark ignored the basis constituting the structure of the government officialdom.”

Hyun-Doo Lee ruchi@donga.com